


Hempen Halter

by lusterrdust



Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Smut, F/M, Family Feels, Friendship/Love, Sam has a daughter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-03
Updated: 2016-08-21
Packaged: 2018-07-29 03:12:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 24,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7667941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lusterrdust/pseuds/lusterrdust
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Dead men tell no tales." Or that's what the stories tell us at least. And unless her eyesight was failing her, this dead man seemed very much alive. Sam/OC</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One.

**Author's Note:**

> So, I still can't get enough of Uncharted. I'm going to go ahead and post this rather cliched plot for my own guilty pleasure and hope you like it as much as I do. xoxo

 

* * *

**_Merchant and pirate were for a long period one and the same person. Even today mercantile morality is really nothing but a refinement of piratical morality._ **

**_– Friedrich Nietzsche_ **

* * *

" _Fuck_!"

The alarm of the smoke detector in the small two bedroom condo blared obnoxiously as a thick, grey cloud flooded into the conjoined living space, startling the female who had dozed off in the chair. Her feet thudded against the linoleum floor as she sprinted to the kitchen. "Fuck!" She repeated, as the dish inside her oven sat consumed with flames.

"Mom!?" A voice from down the hall called out worriedly.

Too busy with putting out the fire, the short copper-haired mother did not respond. Instead, she opened the sliding door that led out to their balcony and dragged a chair just below the alarm before reaching up to turn it off.

"Oh, you're joking!" She grumbled quietly when the beeps continued loudly near her ear. She hit the center of it with the palm of her hand and nearly stumbled off the chair when the plastic piece popped off and hit her square in the face.

A small hand circled her forearm and Charlotte Walsh looked down to see her fifteen-year-old daughter staring at her in partial amusement and concern as she helped her down. "Uh, when I told you I wanted my meat cooked 'well done' I should've specified-"

"Samantha," Charlotte lifted her hand up tiredly, cutting her daughter's wiseass remark off by using her full name. Crossing her arms, she fell against the counter with a deep sigh and gazed at the tray of food (now looking more like charcoal) disdainfully. "You feeling take-out?"

The young girl poked at the burnt food with her pinky. "Can we get Chinese?"

"Sure." Charlotte agreed, looking around for her purse. "Grab my phone for me, please?"

After a night of Chinese take-out and binge watching a cheesy but addictive series on Netflix about vampires, Charlotte was thoroughly spent. She looked down at her daughter passed out beside her and pulled the blanket from behind them over to tuck her in.

Samantha mumbled in her sleep and flipped over to her side as a small snore escaped her parted lips. After a big stretch, Charlotte walked over to her bedroom and moved to her desk to finish up a case she was on for work. She was a few hours into her research, nearly two am, when her concentration was disrupted with the low vibration of her phone. Her brow furrowed as she stared at the unknown number, but reluctantly answered anyway.

"Hello?"

 _"Charlotte Walsh."_ A vaguely familiar voice from the other end laughed, _"I didn't wake you, did I?"_

She sat back against her chair, feeling puzzled. "Who's this?"

_"An old friend that you owe a favor to."_

In that split second of recognizing who's voice it was on the other end, Charlotte sat up rigidly as if she'd had a bucket of ice cold water poured over her. "Rafe."

She could practically _feel_ his arrogant grin from the other line as he chuckled. _"It's been a while, hasn't it?"_

Not wanting to waste time, she cut to the chase. "You need me for a job."

 _"Still a woman who like to cut right to the shit."_ He chuckled, _"That'll come in handy."_

Her eyes narrowed and she felt an ugly stir of emotions churn in the pit of her stomach. "Rafe... I don't—I don't _do_ that stuff anymore."

The air shifted within the lines, and she mentally braced herself for a verbal beat down but his voice was uncomfortably smooth as he responded. _"Let's not forget the severity of your debt, Walsh. Does the word 'laundering' ring any bells for you?_ _What about the number 400,000?"_

"I get it!" She snapped, feeling her heart hammer in her chest as a flood of memories from her early twenties flashed in her minds eye. Her palms were beginning to sweat and she quickly rubbed them against her jeans. "What do you need me to do?"

 _"The Saint Dismas Cross."_ He told her calmly. _"You remember it?"_

How could she _forget_? It was the sole reason she had lost her best friend all those years ago. She had lost the two people who had kept her grounded, and it was all for a damned cross.

" _Walsh_?" He repeated a bit more impatiently.

"Y-yeah." She nodded before realizing he couldn't see her. "Yeah, I remember."

_"How's your Latin?"_

"Rusty."

 _"Well, polish it up and pack your bags."_ He sighed dramatically. _"I'll send a car for you in the morning."_

"How do you know where I live?" She whispered before rushing to the living room to make sure her daughter was still okay. Walking over to the window, she lifted the blinds and wondered just how paranoid she being. "How long is this trip?"

 _"A month at most."_ He responded, intentionally ignoring her first question.

"A month!?" She hissed angrily. "I have a daughter, if you've forgotten! I can't just pack up and leave her alone!"

_"Find someone to watch her or she'll be alone a lot longer with you in prison."_

Charlotte's vision blurred with angry tears as she looked back at Samantha's form. Would she ever be able to escape her past? It seemed the moment things started to look up, the skeletons in her closet always pushed their way through. "Okay."

" _Perfect_!" She could hear him clap his hands together jovially, _"Oh, and one more thing-,"_

"What?"

_"Bring something nice to wear."_

She hung up the phone after that and hunched over, sliding down the wall behind her before her chest began to wrack with stifled sobs. She couldn't escape her past no matter how hard she tried, and now it was going to affect her daughter.

"No." She shook her head, raising her hand up to slap her cheek and wipe the tears away as she stood in front of the hallway mirror. "You're going to go do the _best_ damn job of your life. You're going to be fast and efficient and you're going to wipe away your debt!" _You have to._ She added internally with a worried lip.

Her fingers quickly dialed a close friend's number and gave her story about an emergency in a case she was working on, asking if she'd watch over Samantha for a few days before the teen left for her summer art camp. Moving across the room to kneel in front of brunette teenager, she kissed the top of her head and ran her fingers through her hair. "Love you, Cricket." Her voice quivered with strained emotion, "I'll come back, I promise."

* * *

_Sam is bae xoxo_


	2. Two

"This is uncomfortable."

Charlotte tried to pull the plunging neckline of her black dress up but it fell back into place, causing her to huff in annoyance. Rafe looked over at her and rolled his eyes. "You look fine. Just stay focused."

"On what?" She snorted, following him and his partner Nadine Ross into the large estate. "The amount of money you're about to drop on a cross?"

The beginning of the evening dragged on and the hushed whispers between Rafe and Nadine caused her to split apart from them unnoticed. If she was going to be stuck here all night, she figured she may as well _try_ and enjoy herself. She'd never been to an auction before, but she guessed they weren't normally hosted by people affiliated with the black market.

"Oh, excuse me—" She turned quickly to apologize to whom she'd backed into, but stopped short at the familiar face in front of her. A wide smile split across her face, "Victor! Oh, my gosh!"

Victor Sullivan stood in front of her, looking quite older than she last remembered. His eyes widened in surprise before he returned her smile with a debonair one of his own. "Well I'll be goddamned! It's been a while, kid. How the hell have you been?"

"Great," She chuckled before she realized maybe that wasn't entirely true and she shrugged, "Well, I mean, as great as can be all things considered. You here on a job?" Her face leaned closer on the last bit for his ears only, but he shook his head and placed the cigar he was holding back in his mouth.

"Nah, not tonight." He said, "What about you? I thought you were out of this game years ago? How's the little one?"

Charlotte gnawed her lip at the mention of her daughter—an action Victor did not miss as he furrowed his brows. She cleared her throat and smiled thinly. "She's not so little anymore. And yeah… yeah, I was but uh—you know how it is when you owe an old contact a favor, huh?"

"You in some kind of trouble?" He looked down at her with the slightest concern before she watched Nadine walk up behind him. At their interaction, she slipped away quietly to escape the crowd.

Standing off to the side alone, she raised a hand to her head and rubbed her temple as she thought back to Samantha.

" _You're leaving?"_

" _It's only for a couple weeks. And I'll be home before your camp is over." Charlotte sighed, tossing her clothes into her duffel bag as her daughter slung herself face first onto the mattress. A muffled response met her ears and she laughed. "What was that? I don't speak grumble."_

_Samantha lifted her head up from the mattress and blew a strand of hair from her face. "I said, is it going to be a dangerous job?"_

_I hope not, Charlotte thought before shaking her head. "No, this should be a simple retrieval. Guy jumped bail and left a trail across the country. I'll be back before you know it."_

" _Alright, just—" Charlotte raised her brow at the teen's hesitation before the younger girl continued. "Just be careful okay? I was watching this documentary about these guys that skipped bail and they basically_ _ **pulverized**_ _the bondsman that came after them and they were never seen again."_

" _How much of that is true?" Charlotte asked skeptically while she tried to fight off a grin._

_Samantha picked at the stitches on the quilt beneath her and huffed. "Okay, I made it up—but, the point still stands; stay safe. Who else is going to burn my dinners if something happens to you?"_

" _There's always ramen."_

" _Mom, I'm serious." Samantha said a bit more quietly, and Charlotte frowned as the guilt coiled in her stomach. "You've never taken a job this far away or for this long. And you're being suspiciously vague about everything."_

_Charlotte felt her mouth part at being caught and she could do nothing but sigh heavily in defeat. "Okay. I'll say this—" She started off, gaining her daughter's full attention. "You're right; this case is… complicated. A little more complicated than what I've dealt with in recent years, but nothing I can't handle. You've just gotta trust me on this, okay?"_

_Samantha pursed her lips and stared at her warily before nodding. "Okay."_

Charlotte immediately blamed the copious amounts of alcohol she'd been downing that night for causing her to lower her defenses and getting lost in thought. With a shake of her head, she turned and walked toward the front doors to get some fresh air. This whole event was pointless. What purpose she served to be here at the auction, she had no idea. Rafe and Nadine schmoozing through the crowds seemed to be doing just fine. Though, Rafe was always a bit unpredictable and whatever his intentions were for her couldn't be good.

It wasn't long before she heard the front doors open again and she saw Victor walk briskly down the steps toward the parking lot. Intrigued by his hasty departure, she peeled her heels off and followed behind him stealthily.

When he got in his car, she crouched down at the passenger's side and looked back toward the building as sounds of gunfire went off and search lights lit up. Clenching her jaw, she pressed her head closer to hear him speaking with someone that wasn't there and she realized he must've had an earpiece on. Acting before she lost her nerve, she pulled the passenger door open and slid inside, scaring the man something fierce.

"Sonofabitch!" He yelled out, turning to look at her incredulously. "You nearly gave me a goddamn heart attack!"

Charlotte raised a brow at him and tossed her heels to the backseat before pointing to the area where gunshots were ringing out loudly. "I thought you weren't on a job?"

"Wait, shut up!" He shouted, looking over her shoulder. She followed his gaze and saw about a dozen men come running out to the parking lot with guns drawn and people scattering to their cars by the numbers in panic. He quickly dimmed the headlights and drove off before she could protest and began speaking again to whoever it was he was working with. "All right boys, change of plan. Too many people trying to leave, the driveway's all jammed up. There's that fountain just outside the ballroom. I'll meet you there."

"Are you insane?" Charlotte whirled back to face him wide eyed, "What kind of trouble are you in now, Victor?"

"Shut up, will ya, kid?" He grunted, swerving quickly toward the fountain. "Let's just make it out of here alive and then you can curse at me all you'd like."

"I can't leave with you!" She cried out, grabbing onto the handlebar above the window as he swerved through the grass like a madman. "He's going to kill me! He's going to kill me!" Pulling her dress up, Charlotte grabbed the small pistol from her thigh and rolled the passenger window down to shoot at the men running toward them. "I have to get out of here!"

Victor looked at her as if she'd grown two heads and her panicked mumbles. "You leave this car, whoever it is you're mumbling about will have already been beaten by these goons!" he gestured to the slew of guards shooting at and surrounding the vehicle.

"Fuck!" She cried out angrily, throwing her head back against the seat as various scenarios of Rafe coming after her played out in her mind.

"Go, go!" Someone from the backseat cried out, startling her, as the car groaned with the assault of ammo being shot at it. "Hold on!"

With a shriek, she gripped the dashboard in front of her as they sped out, away from the Rossi Estate.

"Who the hell— _Charlie_!?" The younger of the two men in the backseat questioned, still catching his breath and staring at the woman in front of him dumbfounded.

Charlotte's eyes widened and felt the blood drain from her face as her eyes flickered between both heaving men in the backseat. She heard her name being called out again before her vision became fuzzy and darkness overcame her.


	3. Three

_Does anyone else think young Sam sounds like a Greaser? lol love it. xoxo_

* * *

As her favorite musical character Annie claimed, it _was_ a hard knock life in the St. Mary's Orphanage for Charlotte Walsh. But instead of musical numbers, pillow fights, and synchronized cleaning there was gossip, rivalry cliques and just regular, boring cleaning. And instead of Miss Hannigan, they had Sister Anette.

Dropped off at the age of eleven by her drunk of a father, Charlotte Walsh was in the category dubbed the _'too old'_ to adopt. The only girls who had even the slightest of chances to get adopted were always the young ones. And unlike Annie, the only similarities she and Charlotte shared were the shades of their hair and not the luck.

On the eve of her fourteenth birthday, she stuffed her worn out backpack with a few pairs of clothing and some bread rolls she'd snuck up her sleeve during dinner before hopping out of the window with no intention of returning.

She was only halfway across the roof when an amused voice spoke lowly nearby. "You're not supposed to be out here."

Charlotte gave a shriek and clutched a hand to her chest. The boy in front of her was sitting over the ledge of the roof, an arm propped against his knee with a cigarette in his mouth.

"Wh-what are you doing out here!?" She whispered, looking at him with suspiciously. "Who are you?"

"Slow down, sister." He chuckled and raised his hand. "I think the question is what are _you_ doing out here?" His eyes flickered to the bag slung over her shoulder and he gave a small nod of understanding, "Ahh… A runaway."

Her feet shifted nervously under his amused gaze and she adjusted the bag to a more comfortable position.

"How old are you?" She changed the subject after a few moments of silence. Her gaze wandered down to his cigarette with obvious distaste before she looked over at the boy's side of the building. "Are you from St. Francis?"

"What's it to you?" He retorted with a raised brow.

"Well, you don't look old enough to be ruining your lungs like that." She shrugged, holding her arm to her chest and taking a step closer to him. Upon closer inspection, she could make out the soft lines of his face and realized he couldn't have been more than a few years older than her. He had a slight accent that was a bit charming and really great hair.

He rolled his eyes at her remark and took an intentionally long drag before blowing the smoke in her direction. "Funny. You sound like one of them nuns."

She walked over and sat next to him, ignoring the curve of his lips as he watched her. "I'm Charlotte." She introduced, sticking her hand out for him to shake.

The boy looked down at her outstretched fingers for a moment before his grin grew into a full blown crooked smile and he returned the shake. "Nice to meet you, Charlie. I'm Sam."

"Charlie?" She pursed her lips at the nickname he'd suddenly decided on giving her and shrugged. "Well, it's better than being called runt, I guess."

"How old are you, anyway?" He asked, leaning back on his forearms. "Twelve?"

" _No_." She glared at him and huffed. "I'll be fourteen tomorrow actually."

"No shit." He looked over at her in surprise before gazing out into the distance thoughtfully. With a grunt, he stood up and wiped the dirt off his jeans. "Well, let's make this runaway one to remember then, huh?"

Charlotte looked at him in confusion before standing up with him. "What do you mean?"

"I _mean_ , I'm blowing this joint, too." He chuckled, grabbing a bag against the wall that she hadn't seen before, and slung it over his shoulder. "And it wouldn't be very gentlemanly of me to not help a lady in need. Especially on her birthday."

Charlotte snorted in amusement and folded her arms. "Who says I'm a lady in need?"

"What?" He lifted his arms up, gesturing to the front of the building. "You gonna make that jump down by yourself?"

She followed his gaze and noticed there was no way to get to the street without making a long, long leap down. When she looked back up at him, he was looking at her expectantly and felt a bit of her walls coming back up. "Why are you helping me?"

Her question threw him off and his grin almost slipped before he eventually shrugged lightly and looked away. "Maybe I know what it's like not to have a person that cared enough to help."

Though she wasn't an adult, Charlotte wasn't stupid. She could read between the lines and right now they were telling her that she and him probably had a lot more in common than she realized.

They stared at each other for a few moments as a mutual understanding befell over them. Then with a grin, she waved her hand and gestured to the rooftops ahead of them. "Lead the way then, Sam."

She should've known by his over-confident smirk that he was trouble.

\---

A buzzing sound rang loudly in Charlotte's head, altering the dream she was having before she slowly woke up.

Her phone was vibrating in the concealed belt tied around her waist under the black dress she still wore, and she reached through the top to fish it out but the vibrating had ceased.

Samantha's name looked up at her from her missed calls list and she immediately redialed only to be directed to a busy signal. It was only then she realized she was not in her hotel bed, and instead lying across two chairs in a small metal room. She jumped up and reached for her pistol strapped to her thigh, but it wasn't there.

"Whoa, whoa, take it easy there, darlin'."

Charlotte held her head as her disorientation faded and the memories from the night before resurfaced. The Rossi Estate, gunfire, Nathan Drake and… " _Sam_ …" When she turned to gaze toward Victor, he was staring at her with grimace and knowing look. "How-? What-?"

He held his hand up. "It's a long story. We'll get into it in a second, but I'm going to take wild guess and assume 'Samantha' wasn't just a random name choice."

"It's a long story." She repeated and turned her head to look outside. With a bit of surprise, she realized they were in a small plane, wading in the ocean. The large cliff sides in the distance were covered in a beautiful array of greens and browns. "Where are we? How long was I out for?"

He gestured her to move to the seat beside him and lit up a cigar. "Scotland. And you've been out for a good nine hours. When was the last time you got a full night's sleep?"

She was beginning to feel dizzy again and plopped down next to him, not knowing exactly what it was that she was feeling- mostly just a jumbled mess of confusion, anger, and disbelief. "Victor, what the hell is going on? If Rafe—oh, _fuck_!" Her eyes widened fearfully, "Shit, _Rafe_! I'm done for! It's over!"

"Blackmail?" Victor guessed as his grimace deepened.

"What else?" She mumbled between her fingers as her head fell into her hands. "Remember that person I was running away from all those years ago?"

"Aw, Jesus, kid." Victor shook his head as he realized what she meant. "You told me he let you go."

"He did." Charlotte frowned. "But… with an exception."

"Of course." He scoffed.

"I owed him a favor." She explained, "I just- I didn't expect…" Her voice trailed off as the worry for her daughter amplified. "Victor, was I hallucinating, or did I see…?"

Victor chuckled dryly. "No, you weren't hallucinating. They're here."

"Here?" She gawked, looking back out the window. "But—I just—I don't _understand_ —," Her breath hitched and her eyes began to burn with tears. "Sully, what is going on!?"

"Tuck in, darlin'." He offered her a cigar, which she declined. "We've got some time to kill, so let me fill you in."

\---

"So, let me get this straight," Charlotte sighed about an hour later of listening to Victor explain the situation. "Sam needs to find Avery's treasure for this Alcazar person who broke him out of the prison we thought he'd originally died in, but instead spent fifteen years locked away in? And now Nadine and Rafe want him and Nate dead to snuff out the competition?"

Victor gave a wry laugh. "That about sums it up."

"I'm getting too old for this." Charlotte exhaled roughly, pulling up the front of her dress again. In the time since she'd woken up, Charlotte was still finding it hard not to jump every time a random burst of explosion went off in the distance. Victor kept reassuring her it was just Shoreline blowing shit up; but when the explosions became louder, added with the echoes of what sounded like a multitude of gun firing, she bit her lip in worry and stared out the window. "Something's wrong."

He reached down to his radio and clicked it on. "Nate? Nate! Goddamn it, Nate. I can hear the fireworks from here. What the hell's going on?"

Nathan's panicked voice responded with a bit of static. _"Long story; short version is get us the hell out of here!"_

Charlotte stood up and searched for her pistol as Victor responded, "Yeah, I figured. Hold tight, be there soon as I can!" He turned to her and pressed some of the control on the dash in front of him. "Hang on, kid."

Her nerves were shot as they flew closer to the sounds of chaos and she grunted with satisfaction as her gaze landed on her gun just under the seats. "There you are." She checked the magazine to count her bullets and realized she was running low. A powerful explosion caused her stumble against the wall and she swore loudly.

"Hey, kid," Victor called out into the radio. "There's no place to land up here. Can you make it down to the water?"

 _"Yeah, set her down."_ Nathan's voice broke through the rings of gunshots. _"One way or another, we'll get to you."_

Charlotte rushed over the side door of the plane and unlatched it.

"What the hell are you doing?" Victor asked her before the vessel groaned in protest at the mass amounts of bullets pelting its sides. " _Goddamn it_!"

"Do you have a gun?" She asked quickly as he fumbled for his radio.

"Back trunk." He grunted, before bringing the radio to his lips. "Boys, they're shooting at my plane! Hurry the hell up, or your ride's gonna sink!"

Rushing to the trunk, Charlotte grabbed the first gun she saw and ran back to the door before pushing it open.

"Fuck!" She swore at the sight of more than twenty Shoreliner's shooting at them. "Here goes nothing."

Taking a deep breath, she aimed her gun at the nearest merc and began shooting. In the distance, she could see two figures leap into the water and begin swimming toward them. With her adrenaline running on high, she had no time for emotions as she yelled at Victor to start the engine. "Hurry!" She yelled out while firing at the mercenaries over the boys as they swam closer. When they got to the door, she reached her hand out and pulled them in before pulling the door shut with a loud slam.

"Go, go!" Nathan yelled out breathlessly, and they lifted off into the air.

Charlotte fell against the metal wall with a deep breath as the two men caught theirs. As they got farther away from the island, a tense and somewhat awkward silence fell over the three as they looked between one another. Swallowing the knot in her throat, Charlotte grabbed a few blankets she'd seen in the trunk and tossed them at the two. "Here, you'll get sick."

"Charlie..." Nathan was the first to speak as he wrapped the blanket around him and took a step toward her. There was an awkward pause before he spoke. "Are you okay?"

Her gaze followed his down to the gun in her hand and she pulled at the slit of her dress to secure it back in its holster before wrapping her arms around herself. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?" She replied with a strained smile as he chuckled and looked down at her with an unsure expression. Reaching out, she pulled him down for an embrace as the adrenaline began to fade, and was relieved that he held onto her just as tight. "It's good to see you, Nate."

"Yeah," He laughed lightly before pulling away. "Can't say it's under the best circumstances, though."

"No kidding." She glanced over to Sam and felt her throat close at the fact he was staring at her with a look she could only describe as intense. Clearing her throat, she nodded at him and felt her stomach begin to churn uncomfortably. "Hello, Samuel."

He blinked at her and stood up. "Charlie."

She took a step back as he walked forward and self-consciously brought a hand up to run through her tangled hair. "You uh- you're looking pretty good for a dead guy."

Nathan looked between the two and excused himself to walk toward the cockpit near Victor, giving them the illusion of privacy in such a tight space.

"You look great." Sam told her genuinely after a few moments of terse silence. His eyes fell to her exposed cleavage before moving back to her face and he brought a bandaged covered hand up to rub the back of his neck.

Charlotte tried not to be affected by his compliment, but it had been fifteen years since she'd seen him. It had been _fifteen years_ of believing he was dead, and now he was standing here in front of her—alive and breathing and soaking wet, looking down at her with those hazel eyes she'd swore as a teen could persuade her to do anything— He was _alive_.

A wrangled sob escaped her throat despite her best efforts to conceal it and he reached out to hold her shoulder before hesitating and pulling away. "Hey, come on now. Don't cry, Charlie."

"I'm sorry." She clenched her eyes shut and turned around to wipe her tears away. She was not that sappy headed teenager anymore. "I just—God, I can't believe you're really here. I can't—I just… I need to sit down."

"Here," he stepped back and moved so she could take a seat.

"I'm going to assume things didn't go as planned down there?" She questioned softly, wanting desperately to fill the awkward silence with a distraction.

"No," Nathan answered from the passenger's seat. "That was a close one though, huh?"

Victor turned to him with a sour look on his face. "They shot up my goddamn plane, Nate."

"We're fine, thanks." Sam rolled his eyes, sitting down in the seat across from Charlotte's.

"Sully, how soon can you get us to Madagascar?" Nate continued.

"So no treasure, then."

Nathan shook his head. "Not yet."

Leaning over his chair, Sam pulled a coin from his pocket and handed it to Victor with sarcastic grin. "I don't know what you're talking about? Look, we're rich."

Charlotte listened idly as the three men began to theorize Henry Avery's intentions about the hidden treasure and the possibility of a recruitment of other Pirate Captains. Her phone started vibrating again and she looked down to see Samantha's number flashing across the screen, wondering to herself how on earth she was staying so calm despite everything.

" _Mom_?" Samantha called out, causing Charlotte to exhale in relief at her voice. She walked toward the back of the small plane and lowered her voice for a bit of privacy.

"Hey, Cricket." She smiled, "You okay?"

" _Yeah_ ," she could hear chatter and distant laughing in the background, and felt a bit of worry ease from her chest. _"You never called last night, I got kind of worried."_

"Sorry, honey. I didn't mean to worry you." Charlotte sighed, not noticing the boys had stopped talking ahead of her. "The reception here is crap. How's Boston? Did you get in yet?"

 _"It's amazing here!"_ Samantha responded excitedly, _"We totally need to take a trip together! I'm going to send you pics of the room they put me and Chelsea in. It's insane!"_

Charlotte chuckled lightly and only then noticed she was being listened to. The weight of her situation dropped in her stomach and she cleared her throat. "Okay, sounds good. I want to see a lot of selfies, too! At least ten a day. Maybe fifteen—,"

" _Mom_ ,"

"Twenty?"

" _Mom_!"

"Okay, ten."

 _"Oh, my gosh_."

"What? I miss your face."

Samantha giggled. _"I miss you, too. And trust me, I'll be taking a **lot** of photos! Oh, Mr. Baldridge is calling us over. I gotta go! Love you, talk to you later!"_

"Love you, too!" Charlotte bit her lip. "Text me later, okay?"

_"I will, bye!"_

"Bye."

After hanging up, she placed her phone on the seat next to her and sat down. There was a flush along her neck as she realized this would probably be an appropriate time to bring Samantha up. _Well, considering we could be attacked at any moment._ She mused.

Sam was bumping his knuckles together in a nervous tick as he stared at her. "So… Husband?"

"No," She responded, taking a deep breath. _Just say it!_ "Daughter."

His eyes widened and she noticed Nathan turn his head to look over at her. "You have kids?" The younger sibling asked with a bit of shock. "And you're out here working?"

She glared at him. " _A_ kid. And that better not be judgement in your tone."

He blinked, "Uh- no, no! I'm just surprised is all."

"Good." Charlotte nodded stiffly before looking up toward Sam. She was unsurprised to see him struggling with what to say. "She's at an art camp in Boston for a month. Pretty convenient for me all things considered."

"You were working for Rafe." Sam finally spoke with a frown. "Why?"

"I owed him." She shrugged, sharing a look with Victor that did not pass neither of their observational skills.

"For what?" Nathan pressed in intrigue.

"It's a long story."

Sam raised his brow and pulled a cigarette from his pocket to stick in his mouth. "We've got time to kill before we reach King's Bay."

"Which by the way, I'll be expecting one of you to buy me some new clothes when we get there." She grimaced, pulling at her dress again. "Since the rest of my shit got left behind with Rafe."

Nathan walked to the back and knelt by one of the trunks in the corner. He pulled out a black tank top and some faded khakis. "Here, these are my wife's. She likes to be prepared for anything."

Charlotte's brows raised in interest at the news Nathan was married and she smiled to herself at the thought before grabbing the items. "Sounds like a smart woman. Thanks."

He walked back up to the front and sat down again to talk with Sully.

With the dress still on, she pulled the pants over her legs and released a sigh of relief to know that they fit her waist. The legs were a little longer than she'd like but a simple fold would fix that. Her eyes flickered toward the cockpit to make sure Nathan and Sully were preoccupied until the fell on Sam's. "Close your eyes." She said, holding the hem of her dress.

"You act like I've never seen you naked before." He replied, releasing an air of smoke from his pouted lips.

"Sam," She sighed in frustration before turning around to lift her dress off and pull the shirt on hurriedly. With a look of disdain toward the stained fabric bunched up in her fist, she tossed the dress into the open trunk and sat back down again.

"So, you were saying?"

"What?"

Sam scoffed and shook his head. "Don't play dumb. What kind of mess did you get yourself wrapped in with Rafe? He's bad news, sweetheart."

Anger flared within her and she narrowed her eyes at him. "Oh, that's rich! Have you forgotten who it was that introduced us?"

His body language became a bit defensive at her tone and he gave her an incredulous look. "That was sixteen years ago. I'm talking about _now_."

"So am I! I owed him a favor from fifteen years ago. It's not my fault he decided to all of a sudden drop this shit on me." She retorted back angrily.

Nathan's brow furrowed together in puzzlement and he shook his head. "I was with Rafe fifteen years ago after—" His eyes flickered over to Sam, and the older brother shifted uncomfortably in his seat before he continued, "Well, after Panama. I don't remember you ever being around Rafe in that time."

"Not for the first ten months you weren't." Charlotte bit back as she leaned forward. "After Panama, Rafe came back alone. Alone and pretty damn pissed that you had disappeared."

"Oh." Nathan murmured looking at Sully with a far off expression. "Yeah."

"Yeah," She continued, "There I was expecting you two to be back within the two month timeframe you'd given me, but nothing. I waited for a letter, phone call, hell _anything_ to let me know you were still alive!"

"Charlotte," Sam looked down guiltily. He hadn't allowed himself to think about how she'd faired in their absence, but now he'd asked for it and she wasn't holding back.

She chuckled bitterly and turned her head away. "You guys always did keep to yourselves. Hell, I figured that out the moment you two changed your identities and skipped town. But I still thought we were friends."

"We were." Nathan insisted, " _Are_."

She turned back to him and bit her lip. "Nathan, I know you were grieving. I don't blame you for anything, but do you know how horrible it was to find out that not only had you returned to the states _without_ Sam, but you had been back for _five_ months?" Her vision began to blur with tears again and she scoffed angrily, "I had to find out that Sam had been shot and _killed_ from some pretentious asshole, who in my honest opinion, didn't give a rat's ass about it! He said it as if it was just a hindrance in his plight to find this fucking treasure, and who did I have to turn to? Nobody."

"I…" Nathan rubbed a hand over his face, looking a bit pale. "I'm sorry, Charlotte. I—I didn't know…"

She blinked rapidly to rid the tears and shook her head. "It wasn't your fault. Trust me, I know you were dealing with your pain the best way you knew how, but it didn't change the fact that it hurt."

Sam leaned forward on his knees and stared at her seriously. "So Rafe asked you to help with the treasure then?"

"Sort of." She responded, crossing her arms. "Just to help with some Latin phrases here and there as he tried to find leads on other Dismas crosses. He offered me a job at his parent's business. It paid well and I was hard on money, so I accepted."

Victor grimaced as he knew what was to come.

"I… I owed someone from a previous job." Charlotte continued in a slightly nervous tone. "From _before_ your trip to Panama."

Sam furrowed his brows and shook his head in bewilderment. "You were working at a shopping mall before Panama. You weren't out doing jobs."

"Samuel, you and Nathan had your secrets." She retorted with a raised brow, "So did I. And I wasn't about to tell you I owed someone four-hundred thousand dollars."

"What?" He cried out incredulously, sharing a bewildered look with his brother before turning back to her. "Four hundred thousand!? When? For who?"

"It was supposed to be a simple carjack." Charlotte continued, ignoring the look on Sam's face. "Mitch Kramer. He ran a chop shop and for every vehicle brought in, he would give whoever it was a decent cut off the sale. Well, to sum it up, I fucked up. I was too ambitious with the model he needed, and talked myself up to him to do the job. He had a lot hanging over this sale. Basically, I got caught. But I was still a minor, and luckily they didn't try me as an adult."

"Jesus, Charlie!" Sam snapped, running a hand through his hair. He'd never known—in the time they'd been together he'd never known. "How could you not tell us?"

"You were in Arizona doing jail time, and Nathan was in fucking Colombia for god's sakes." She snapped back. "It wasn't like I could just drop by!"

"So how does this tie in with Rafe?" Nathan questioned, wanting to avoid a confrontation between the two.

Returning Sam's fuming expression with her own, she continued. "Well, like I was saying—the judge may have let me off lightly, but Kramer didn't. I spent five years running from him, but of course, he eventually found me. It was three months after you'd two left for Panama… and well, he would've killed me but…" Her voice trailed off and she glanced at Victor before clenching her eyes shut.

"But what?" Sam asked with a deep frown still set in place.

"But… I was pregnant." She finished, before hurriedly continuing so he wouldn't interrupt. "He gave me a year to collect the money or I would 'regret it'. So, I accepted Rafe's job and laundered money from his company to Kramer's. Long story short, Rafe found out and told me he'd let it slide as long as I paid off a favor for him one day. And alas, here we are."

She licked her lips and winced at how dry they felt. Sam's frown had slipped off and instead he looked slightly ashen faced.

"Wait, your daughter is… fifteen then?" Nathan questioned, looking between both her and Sam with wide eyes.

"Were you with anyone else?" Sam croaked out, lighting up another cigarette. His question felt like a stab wound to her chest and she glowered at him.

"You're such an ass, you know that?" She hissed, "No. I never cheated on you! You were my first and you know that!"

He fell against the back of his seat and ran a shaky hand over his face. "Then, then that means…"

"Sam's a father?" Nathan finished quietly, flickering his eyes back and forth between them.

"Yes." Charlotte swallowed thickly. "Yes, she's Sam's."

"I'm an uncle then." Nathan smiled slightly, looking back to Sully. "Hear that?"

Charlotte watched with nervous eyes as Sam stood up and began pacing the small area. He was already on his second cigarette and she clutched the phone in her hand tightly just to give her fingers something to do. "I don't expect anything, you know."

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye but did not stop his pacing, prompting her to continue. "Either way, we're fucked. If you don't get the treasure, Alcazar kills you. If Rafe doesn't get the treasure, I get sent to Prison."

"What do you mean?" Nathan shook his head, trying to ignore his brother's concerning behavior. "I thought you said all he wanted was the favor and you were good?"

"Nathan, where am I right now?" She questioned, gesturing to the plane. "I'm not with Rafe, which means I'm not helping him. The favor isn't repaid just because I took a flight to Italy with him. And to make matters worse, I'm with you three."

Sam had moved to sit back on the chair opposite of her and buried his face in his hands.

"You going to say anything?" She asked quietly, tilting her head to try and catch his eye.

He stayed silent.

Every part of her felt heavy with fatigue, and it didn't help that she was emotionally drained. After a few minutes of silence, she realized there was no point in pushing the conversation farther and instead laid across the two seats while facing the wall. And with the sounds of the engine and hushed whispers in the cockpit, Charlotte fell into a restless sleep.


	4. Four

Landing in Madagascar couldn’t come sooner for Charlotte.

The entirety of the plane ride after she’d woken up was silent and awkward. Sam hadn’t spoken to her since he’d found out he was a father, and Nathan and Victor kept giving her pitying looks—which just further irritated her.

She didn’t need pity. She was fine with her life. Happy, even. Once they landed, and Nathan had called his wife, she made sure to tell them that.

“Here we are.” Victor said as they walked into the motel room. “We’ve got a big day tomorrow, so let’s try and get some rest.”

“Let’s find some food first.” Nathan suggested as he tossed his bag on the nearest bed. “I’m starving.”

“Good thinking, kid.” Victor nodded. He turned to Charlotte as she sat on one of the beds. “You comin’?”

Charlotte looked up from her phone and shook her head. “No, thanks.”

“I’ll bring you back something then.” Nathan smiled at her. She returned it with a small one of her own as she remembered how generous he was. It seemed it was a trait that hadn’t faded over the years.

“Thanks, Nate.”

The two men left, leaving her alone with Sam and she quickly got up to try and move to the bathroom, but he reached out and grabbed her arm. Looking down at his troubled expression, she wondered what was going through his mind. “Yes?”

Sam didn’t release his grip on her, but he loosened it a bit before sighing heavily. “I’m sorry.”

Charlotte blinked in surprise, not expecting _that_ from him. “…For what?”

“For… everything.” He grimaced before running a hand over his stubbled jaw. “Jesus, I don’t--,”

“Stop.” She sighed, placing her hand over his and gently guided him to the sofa. “Look, I honestly don’t know what you must be feeling right now but you don’t have to apologize.”

His hazel eyes looked up at her unsurely, and she could see the apprehension in them. “I left you alone with a kid.” He sighed, “…I swore I’d never leave my kid without a dad if I ever had one.”

“It’s not like you had a choice.” Charlotte argued back lightly, not really knowing the right thing to say. It was apparent he was feeling ashamed and she hated that there was this wall of fifteen years absence and change that divided them. “Trust me, if you choose to meet her, she’ll understand.”

“Of course I want to meet her.” Sam replied earnestly as he pulled a cigarette out. “I just… _fuck_ , what if I screw up, you know? She’s already older. Maybe she feels like she doesn’t need a dad.”

Charlotte bit her lip and held his gaze. “Sam… you and I both know better than anyone that that’s not true.”

He released the smoke out shakily before nodding at her lit up phone. “That her?”

She picked up her phone and chuckled when she saw a row of pictures being sent from Samantha. “Yeah, it’s her.”

He nodded and took another drag. “What’s her name?”

Charlotte’s eyes lifted off the screen and smiled at him shyly. “…Samantha.”

Sam’s eyebrows shot up and he hesitantly grinned back at her. “You named her after me.”

She shrugged, hoping a blush didn’t break over her skin as she replied. “I wanted to hold onto a piece of you, Sam. I… you were my life, remember? And to lose you like that…” Her words trailed off and she let her eyes say what she couldn’t. But Sam knew. He had known her better than anyone before all _this_ and she’d be a fool to believe he didn’t have a semblance of understanding what she wasn’t telling him.

He cleared his throat and looked down to the phone that was still vibrating from the mass amount of texts being sent to her. He reached his hand out, “May I?”

Charlotte opened the inbox and watched as he scrolled through the photos. Something awakened in his gaze, she noticed. Like a spark of life being brought over him.

“She’s beautiful.” He smiled widely with a low chuckle. “Looks just like you.”

“She’s got your eyes, though.” Charlotte bit her lip to keep from smiling, feeling the infectious change in good mood. “And your attitude.”

“Heh, no kidding?”

“She’s a handful.” She continued, only to take the phone back when it started to ring. Before he could protest, she answered and hit the speaker button. “Hey, you!” She greeted, looking up to see Sam sitting with a bit of the discomfort back on his features. “I just got your messages.”

 _“Oh, cool.”_ Samantha’s voice echoed through the room cheerily. _“Mom, you’re never going to believe this, guess what?”_

Sam was staring ahead, soaking in every detail of his daughter’s voice just as Nathan and Sully walked back in. The two men at the door stayed quiet as they’d heard the voice over the phone.

“What?” Charlotte asked, sparing a glance to the brothers.

_“That’s not guessing.”_

Rolling her eyes, Charlotte chuckled, “Um, you saw a celebrity?”

 _“No.”_ Samantha scoffed, _“Okay, I forgot how bad you are at guessing games, I’ll just tell you.”_

“Well, go on! Don’t keep me in suspense.”

 _“We are going to New York City tomorrow!”_ She squealed excitedly. Charlotte looked up to see both Nathan and Sam listening intently with various states of joyful intrigue. _“And we are going to tour NYU! Mom, I can finally see what their art program is like! I swear, if you get some random inheritance from some dead uncle you never knew, we should totally buy an apartment here! There’s so much to do! Can we come during the winter? Please, please? Chelsea said the whole city lights up for Christmas and—“_

“Whoa, take a breath, Cricket.” Charlotte laughed at her excitement, “We’ll see how it is with work and everything and make a decision from there, okay?”

 _“Okay.”_ She could hear the grin from the other line.

“How are you doing on money?” She asked suddenly, “You haven’t spent it all yet, have you?”

_“Um.”_

“Samantha.”

_“Hey, I got you a souvenir!”_

Sully chuckled lightly and Charlotte raised a finger to her lips. “Alright, you’re off the hook.”

 _“So, how’s the job going?”_ Samantha asked, causing the men to snap their heads toward her in shock. Charlotte knew they probably thought she’d told Samantha about the Rafe and the treasure, but the teen continued, _“Did you get the guy yet? Or you still on his trail?”_

“Um,” Charlotte looked away from their stares and hurriedly answered, “No. No, not yet. But I still have a couple weeks before I have to bring him back so…”

_“Alright, well I’ll call you later. We’re getting ready to head out.”_

“Stay safe, okay?” Charlotte told her. “Don’t leave the group. Do you have your pepper spray?”

_“Yes, mom. I gotta go! Love you, bye!”_

“Love you, too.”

Nathan walked over to her and handed her a small bowl of food. “So, Samantha?”

Charlotte took the bowl with a thanks before nodding. “Yep.”

“You a cop?” Sam questioned, looking far too amused for his own good at the prospect of such a thing.

She smirked lightly in response. “Not _quite_. I… hunt down fugitives who skip bail.”

“A bounty hunter?” Nate laughed through a mouthful of food, “No way.”

Sam chuckled alongside his brother and turned to her. “New and reformed then, huh?”

“Trust me, the irony isn’t lost on me.” She added with a shrug. “It was an easy way to get paid. For me, at least. Plus, I was on edge over Rafe’s suspiciously dismissive response to what I’d done and figured it was best to stay close to the system than try to run away from it. Enemies close and all that.”

Sully scoffed in amusement. “Yeah, was that before or after you came running to me for help on a new identity?”

She glared lightly at him and huffed in partial amusement and annoyance. “Your _help_ wasn’t very helpful.” She turned to the brothers while keeping her finger pointed at Sully. “This guy promised me he’d give me and Samantha new identities to keep Rafe off our trail. _But_ , he left us high and dry.”

“Oh, don’t look at me like that.” Sully folded his arms defensively. “I had a business deal in Mexico to take care of. I couldn’t very well help you if I was dead, could I?”

Charlotte waved her hand. It turned out she hadn’t needed the forged documents to slip away into a life of normalcy after all. Rafe had kept true on his promise to dismiss the crime she did (mostly she figured because four-hundred thousand bucks was chump change to him and his family) and it gave her the opportunity to start fresh with her then one-year old daughter. “Yeah, yeah.”

It was starting to get late after that, and the foursome spent the rest of their evening preparing a plan for the next day to get to the Volcano there in King’s Bay. They were up with the rise of the sun and Charlotte settled in the backseat of the jeep they’d rented as they drove in the Volcano’s direction.

The drive was long and bumpy, but Charlotte couldn’t care less. The sights surrounding her were absolutely _breathtaking_. Greens, browns, greys, and oranges overwhelmed her vision and the smell of fresh air filled her lungs with each breath she took.

“Just imagine,” Sam breathed out in amazement as they stared out toward the volcano. “You’ve come here, a well-to-do pirate, far away from your oppressive government--,”

Sully laughed loudly, interrupting him. “Poor, oppressed pirates. All they wanted to do was murder and pillage in peace.”

“No, no.” Sam continued, gripping onto the jeep’s side rail as Nathan drove on. “They wanted to live as free men.”

Nathan shrugged. “Well, if you’re gonna pick a place to run away from society, you could do worse a lot worse than here.”

“No kidding.” Charlotte added, before pouting. “I wish I’d brought a camera.”

“Yeah, well, it sure is taking a long time to get to this volcano.” Sully continued in an impatient tone.

Sam looked over at her and gestured to him, “You believe this guy? Patience, Victor, patience.” He leaned toward the older man and continued, “Do you know how those pirates got here? They had to _start_ in England, _sail_ to Brazil, _then_ cut back across the Atlantic to South Africa,”

“Sam-,” Sully looked over at him exasperated.

“ _And_ they figured all that out with paper, charts and _by looking at the stars_.” Sam pressed on with that passionate tone and spark in his eye that she’d fallen in love with all those years ago. 

“Hey,” Sully lifted his hand up. “You’re describing sailin’ to a former squid.”

Charlotte remained quiet as she listened to the men continue their chatter and pondered on the quickened pace of her heartbeat. Her eyes flickered over to Sam as he stared at everything in wonder and she felt a swell of emotion fill her chest as she watched him.

Feeling her gaze on him, he turned his head and grinned at her. “Pretty amazing, huh?”

“Absolutely.” She nodded, reaching up to tuck a loose curl behind her ear.

His eyes flickered down to her lips before settling back on her gaze and he inched closer toward her. “Did you ever think as kids we’d be here now?”

“Can’t say that I ever did.” She laughed lightly, looking over his shoulder to see a pack of lemurs running across the field. “But I knew you would.”

He blinked at her and furrowed his brow. “Whaddya mean?”

“Well,” She drawled out, looking up at him through her lashes, “If there was one thing I loved about you, it was your ambition. The way you and Nate would talk about traveling and treasure hunting—I never doubted you’d achieve your goals.”

His eyes searched her own intensely, and she felt as though he could read every part of her soul with a look like that. He was about to speak before a loud explosion sounded off in the distance and the jeep jerked to a stop, diverting their attention toward the front.

“Oh, shit! Stop, stop!”  Sully yelled out, reaching his hand over Nathan.

“I see ‘em.” Nate murmured in frustration as he leaned forward on the steering wheel.

Charlotte reached over and handed him the binoculars in her lap and waited anxiously as he looked through them.

“What do we got?” Sam questioned, leaning forward with a frown.

“Military types poking around.”

Charlotte sat up straighter and tried to look down at the broken down tower. “Nadine’s guys?” She asked, worrying her lip.

“Yep.”

Sam fell back against the seat with a clenched fist and shake of his head. “Son of a bitch.”

Charlotte remained silent as the men continued to talk speak in hushed tones and moved her hand over her pistol, now reloaded and Sully’s revolver that were strapped to her thighs comfortably. “Maybe we can sneak past?” She suggested, though she knew there’d be no way they wouldn’t get caught.

“Just follow my lead.” Nathan said, putting the jeep into drive again and moving slowly across the plains. He parked behind a large hill and jumped out, with the three of them close behind.

 _Jesus_ , she thought to herself as Nathan continued to stealthily take out take out the men one by one. Her eyes lifted to the red line moving across the area and she cursed quietly to herself. Her adrenaline was pumping through her veins again and she felt that familiar high of excitement at it. Moving quietly, she broke apart from the men, confident they’d hold their own, and furtively made her way up the stone wall to take the sniper out.

Sweat was gathering at the base of her neck as she pulled herself over the very top and she exhaled shakily in relief that the man hadn’t noticed her. Two quiet strides over, she threw her arm around his neck and twisted until she heard the crack of his neck and the sound of his rifle hitting the floor.

A grunt passed her lips as she lowered him, before grabbing the rifle. “Hello, gorgeous.” She whispered appreciatively as she lifted the gun up and looked through the scope. It took her a moment to find the group, but the red of Victor’s shirt screamed out against the greens of the tall grass. Her eyes widened as she realized nearly all the Shoreliner’s had been taken out, with the exception of the two Nathan was inching his way toward.

Obviously not wanting her climb to have been a waste, she aimed for the head of the merc nearest to Nate and fired. A loud shot rang out over the area and the man’s body flew back from the force, causing the others to cry out in surprise. Before a gun could be fired against her guys, she aimed for the other mercenaries’ head and shot again before standing up with a “Whew!”

“Jesus Christ!”

She held her hand up and waved to the dumbstruck men below her and yelled out, “You’re welcome!”

“Nice aim!” Nate complimented as she climbed back down and approached them.

“Thanks.” She smiled widely, appreciating the compliment. “I’ve had years to practice.”

“Didn’t even hear you walk away.” Sam told her as he walked toward her. “You’re pretty good at this.”

Now, while Nate’s compliment had caused her to feel a bit of pride, Sam’s had caused an eruption of butterflies in her stomach. _Shit_ , she thought as she thanked him as well. On their way back to the car, she couldn’t help but stare at the way his muscles moved beneath his denim shirt, or the way he periodically ran a hand over the stubble across his jaw and neck. _Shit_ , she repeated again in her mind.

She was still attracted to him.

“Shit.”


	5. Five

In Charlotte's fourteen-year-old mind, she'd convinced herself that running away would be simple. That she'd make it just fine on her own. Of course, that wasn't the case.

She'd soon been discovered by the authorities and dropped right back off at the Orphanage's doorstep. Sister Anette had been furious with her, giving her three week's punishment. She didn't mind, though. She was used to being alone.

That all changed the night Sister Anette informed the group of girls over thirteen that there was going to be a movie night—and the boys from the other side of the building were attending. Charlotte had never heard the girls so excited before.

Once she'd found a spot on the floor in the large living space away from the large group of teens, she nestled into a comfortable position and waited just as excitedly for the movie to play. Leave it up to the nuns to pick an old black and white film, Charlotte snorted when the credits rolled in on the film. She definitely wasn't about to complain, though.

Halfway through the movie, a boy that looked her age inched his way toward her nervously. "Hi."

"Hi." She responded quietly to avoid being shushed. Her arms wrapped around her knees and she gave him a strange look as if to ask 'why are you talking to me?'.

"You're Charlotte, right?" The boy whispered, looking toward her with wide, earnest eyes that reminded her of a clear blue sky.

The confusion she felt amplified and she tilted her head at him. "…yeah?"

He scooted closer to her and reached into his pocket before pulling out a scrap of paper. "My brother Sam told me about you." He explained and she blinked in surprise at the mention of the boy she'd met a month prior. "Here. He told me to give this to you. Also, I'm sorry you got brought back here."

His smile was kind and genuine, and Charlotte couldn't help but like him instantly. She shook her head. "I should've known it would be hard to get by without an adult to help me out, but thanks… um…?"

"Oh, sorry." He chuckled, "I'm Nathan."

"Well, thanks then, Nathan." She reached out with a grin and took the rumpled paper from his hands. "I'm kind of surprised Sam remembered me."

"He said you owe him one for almost crushing him?" Nathan explained with confused amusement. "He talked about you as if you were friends."

"Oh, yeah." She giggled to herself, remembering back to the night he'd helped her escape the Orphanage. "I almost crushed him to death."

On their way down, Sam had tried to guide her on climbing down a drainage pipe, but her fingers had lost their grip and she found herself falling. Unfortunately for Sam, his chest had cushioned her blow as she knocked the wind out of him.

She quickly explained what happened to Nathan and the two shared a laugh together.

"Mind if I sit with you for the rest of the movie?" He asked her afterward and she shook her head before grabbing an extra pillow nearby for him.

"Here." She told him, leaning back against her own pillow.

"Thanks."

They settled in comfortable silence and diverted their attention to the film. After a short while, however, Charlotte brought the paper up Nathan had given her and uncrumpled it to read.

_Charlie,_

_Meet me on the roof tomorrow after the nun's first check. Try not to get caught this time, huh?_

_Sam_

A wide smile split over her face and she felt a rush of excitement flow through her at the prospect of sneaking out again. Looking over at Nathan she felt a bubble of happiness in her chest. She hadn't had a friend in over three years.

Now she had two.

\---

This was it—it was over.

" _Don't panic! Don't panic!"_

Nathan's voice seemed distant over the blood pumping through Charlotte's veins at a furious speed. The jeep had been pulled over the side of the mountain by a large boulder and the only thing keeping them from falling to their deaths was a _cable_ tied to the tree a far distance up.

"I am very much panicking here!" Sully cried out, gripping onto the dashboard.

"Nathan, you get us out of this _right now_!" Charlotte screamed hysterically as she clutched onto Sully's seat.

"The cable's gonna snap!" Sam called out from beside her. When the car had slid off the mountain, he instantly wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her flush against his side. Even now she could feel his fingers digging into her stomach as he held onto her.

"Nate!?"

"Hit the gas! Pull us up!"

A bloodcurdling scream tore from her throat as a large piece of debris hit the dangling jeep and jerked them closer to their deaths before the cable jerked them to another sudden halt. " _Nathan_!" She cried out as the man flew from his seat by the sheer force of the impact.

Sam reached out reflexively and grabbed him with his other free arm, and Charlotte did her best to hold onto him and the seat in front of her. "Oh, no!"

"I gotcha!" He grunted, heaving his younger brother up. "I gotcha!"

"Hold on tight, kid!" Sully yelled over his shoulder, looking far paler than he'd been before.

Charlotte clenched her eyes shut as Nathan climbed his way back into the jeep and tried to steer them up the side of the mountain. Her stomach was rolling and all she could think of was what would happen to Samantha if she died.

"Get us out of this, kid!"

Sam pulled her tighter than she thought possible against him and began to pray. "Hail Mary full of grace our Lord is with thee blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb…!"

She'd never admit it, but Charlotte silently prayed alongside him until they pulled up over the edge and were back on solid ground.

"Ah," Nathan laughed in a winded manner, "… that was fun, right?"

"You and I have very different perceptions of fun." Charlotte retorted hoarsely as she sank into Sam's embrace. Right now, she didn't care how close they were; she was too focused on getting her heartbeat back to its normal rate. Her eyes shut as she caught her breath and her head fell against Sam's chest heavily.

Sam's heart was beating rapidly as well and she focused on its rhythm, letting it lull her back into a sense of calm with its repetitive reassurance that they'd survived- _again_.

"You okay?" He leaned down and whispered lowly, pushing the stubborn red curl away from her brow with his breath. The light of the sun reflected off of his eyes, drawing out an amber hue across them with specks of green, and she sat back mesmerized. His lips were still parted, releasing ragged exhales as he tried to even out his breathing, and she could feel the magnetic pull of their energy drawing them closer.

Charlotte pulled away from him and nodded, feeling breathless now for a whole different reason. "Y-yeah, fine. Thank you."

He gave her a skeptical look but nodded all the same. "We're nearly there, okay?"

"Got it." She replied. _Could he not feel it?_ She wondered to herself. Was their time apart long enough to sever the connection they'd once had? A part of her wished it so, but a larger part prayed against it.

They had never in their younger years declared any type of love they felt for one another, nor had they put a label on their relationship. They were just them— Sam and Charlie. Charlie and Sam. When Sam wasn't with Nathan, he was with Charlie. It's just how it had been. No frills, no titles—just a pair of hoodlums who shared their secrets, intimacies, and truest parts of themselves with.

Distracted by her thoughts, Charlotte began to run on auto-pilot, only vaguely paying attention to the revered exclamations of their discovered ruin. She followed closely behind the men as they maneuvered their way into the aged building and was hardly surprised when all that was discovered was another, _larger_ , St. Dismas statue and from what Sully revealed, _another_ map.

"Avery couldn't make this easy, could he?" She snorted, folding her arms to look around the aged ruins.

"Fire in the hole!" A voice from above called out.

"Shit!" She yelled, ducking behind a broken stone block. Her fingers seized the guns from her holster just as the top of the building exploded and a slew of mercenaries came barreling in.

Her ears started to ring as the area erupted in gunfire and explosions. A surprised gasp tore from her throat as a man grabbed her from behind and swung her face first into the wall beside them. As her head collided with the stone, her vision clouded and a searing pain erupted near her forehead before it was replaced with a warm sensation. Gathering her wits, she elbowed the man from behind to loosen his grip on her before swiveling her body to kick the center of his chest.

He went down with a grunt and she grabbed his gun before sending a round of bullets into his gut. The sounds around her muffled—fading in and out with the tempo of her heartbeat. When she reached up to feel her head, the pain suddenly flared again and she winced before pulling away to stare at the blood running down her fingers. "Damn it."

There wasn't time for distraction in the midst of a battle and she barely had time to register Sam's voice yelling her name before her body was thrown back several feet from the force of an explosion.

Her brain was foggy as she lifted her head from the ground, and she coughed up the smoke and dirt that now filled her nose and lungs. " _Fuck_ ," She groaned pathetically, crawling out of the rubble she was buried under. By the sheer grace of whatever saints she believed in, she'd been far enough from the grenade thrown near her to not have died or been severely injured. Well, from what she assumed, anyway.

"Charlotte!" Sam's voice yelled out frantically, sounding closer.

She nearly tripped over the piles of stone as she stumbled out of the debris and waved her hand. "I'm fine!" Her voice sounded hoarse and she coughed again to try and ease the burning in the back of her throat. "I'm okay!"

"Jesus!" Sam breathed out as he reached her and looked over her injuries. "Christ, your head-!"

She waved him off and ripped the bottom of her shirt off to wrap around the fresh wound on her forearm tightly. "I'm fine." She repeated with a bit more bite in her tone while trying to knot the fabric. He exhaled roughly and pushed her hand away before tying the makeshift bandage himself.

"Look at this." Nathan called out from across the area near the Dismas cross. He was looking down at a paper in his hands and she walked over toward him and Sully with Sam hovering close behind her.

Sam grabbed the paper and refrained from balling it up in frustration.

"What is it?" She asked, stepping closer to him to examine it while ignoring her body's protest to move.

"They figured out the towers, too." Nathan answered grimly.

"Locations, sigils, the works." Sam shook his head and passed the paper back to Nathan angrily.

"So now what?" Sully asked with a raise of his arms.

Charlotte blinked back the sudden wave of vertigo that overtook her and subtly moved back to lean against one of the walls.

"Now what?" Sam responded in agitation. "Now we're screwed, okay? Because there's four of us, and there's God knows how many of them."

 _Hopefully it stays four_ , Charlotte joked morbidly to herself as she focused on the pain she felt. Her head was beginning to pound but she fought with every ounce of her being to look unaffected. She'd survived concussions before, and the hit wasn't _that_ hard. She was just… discombobulated.

"Okay," She heard Sam's voice again, "Charlie and I will take this tower. You and Sully—you take that one."

 _What, now?_ She thought, trying to keep up with their conversation. When she looked up, Sam was walking toward her with a narrowed look. She straightened up and pushed back the pain as much she could. "Where are we going?"

He ignored her question and moved closer to inspect her wound. "You're injured."

"I'm fine." She retorted quickly, "Now where are we going?"

He stared at her with a pursed look for another few moments before nodding his head toward the exit. "Bell tower. Let's go."

When they secured one of Shoreline's jeeps and bid their goodbyes to Nate and Sully, Sam immediately rounded on her as she'd expected. "You know, you've always been a shit liar."

She gave him a dry look and held onto the side rail of the jeep to help keep her still during the bumpy ride. "Sam,"

"No." He interrupted, taking his eyes off the road every few seconds to stare at her. "How bad is it?"

"What?"

He rolled his eyes in frustration. "The _pain_ , Charlie. How bad?"

Not seeing the point in arguing, she sighed and dropped her shoulders a bit. "Out of ten? Probably a seven." His mouth opened again to speak but she quickly continued, " _But_ , like I said multiple times already, I'm _fine_. I'll take some Tylenol when we finish and be good as new."

He snorted, unconvinced before they fell into a silence. It was nearly twenty minutes later that he spoke again, this time with less anger in his tone.

"So…"

She looked over at him curiously and raised a brow at his fidgety demeanor. "What?"

His fingers tapped against the steering wheel in a nervous tick before he looked over at her and nodded to her hands. "You're not married, then?"

The air in her lungs pushed itself out in shock at the choice in topic before a warm feeling pooled in her stomach. She wasn't sure if it was nerves or… hope. Frankly, she was too scared to linger on the answer.

"No." She answered, licking her lips. "No, I'm not."

He hummed in response, nodding his head thoughtfully before another stretched silence fell over them. He couldn't help himself, however, and continued a few minutes later. "Did you ever…?"

Charlotte refrained from sighing aloud, realizing this topic was most likely unavoidable. _May as well let it all out_ , she figured. Her body shifted toward him in her seat and she answered seriously. "No. I never married. I mean, there were a few guys…"

"Really?" He blinked before lighting up a cigarette and sticking it in his mouth.

Her head tilted to try and read his emotions. "Well, yeah. I'm not a nun."

He snorted at that and shook his head with a wry laugh. "Don't I know it."

The reference to their former relationship shifted the tone between them and Charlotte looked down at her bandaged arm. Staring at the blood-soaked fabric was easier to face than one Samuel Drake. "None of them ever worked out, though. Eventually I didn't see a point in dating at all. They weren't-," She quickly snapped her mouth shut and felt a flush against her neck at her slip.

She could feel his eyes burning holes into her as she continued to avoid his gaze. "Weren't what?" He pressed quietly, moving his eyes back toward her from the road.

"Sam…" She bit her lip, feeling some of her walls begin to rise around her.

"I thought about you." Sam murmured after another minute of silence. She looked up and saw his brow had furrowed and he was frowning with a thoughtful look on his face. "Back in Panama." He continued. "I thought of you every day… I thought of you falling in love with a man that wasn't me—"

"Sam,"

"I thought of you forgetting me. Of you having children with this faceless knight in shining armor type of guy. And then…" He paused slightly and she leaned forward with baited breath for him to continue. "And then he wasn't faceless anymore… I thought of how our lives would've played out if those bastards hadn't shot me."

"What did you think about?" She asked quietly, not even aware of the throbbing still happening over her head.

He licked his lips and glanced at her before he drummed his fingers lightly across the steering wheel. "Well… for starters, you'd be by my side as Nathan and I uncovered the truth of Francis Drake... Then we would find Avery's treasure, naturally. And with that money, we would travel the world. I'd take you to India, Moscow, Brazil… We would be happy…"

His voice hitched slightly, and she could tell he was debating on whether or not to finish his sentence. He looked up at her with a yearning gaze and continued, "And then… I would buy a ring. Something simple but beautiful—,"

She swallowed thickly and felt her eyes cloud over at his words. She had dwelled on the 'what-ifs' _so_ many times. She had wondered just the same how different life could've been with Sam there beside her.

His thumb moved across her cheek to wipe away the few tears that had spilled over and she exhaled shakily at his touch. Reaching her hand up, she lightly pulled his hand away and clenched it tightly in her own. No words could be formed in her mouth. Her tongue had run dry and it was like every emotion she'd held back in the past few days decided to spill over in this stolen jeep.

"I know things are different." He continued thickly, giving her hand a squeeze. " _We're_ different… but seeing you—being next to you on this trip…" He chuckled and shook his head, "I mean, I'm still adjusting to the fact that I have a _kid_! And you're the mother of my _child_ -!"

"Stop the car." She demanded, straightening up in her seat.

"What?" His eyes widened at her interruption as he looked at her in confusion.

"Stop the car." She repeated with an even tone. He complied reluctantly and turned to her curiously. Before she could lose her nerve, Charlotte moved forward and pressed her lips slant against his own.

The soft groan of surprise he made at the action stirred a jolt of pleasure inside her and she mewled quietly against the movement of his lips when he reciprocated the kiss quite ardently.

There were no fireworks. No sparks of electricity coursing through her veins—no. There was only that pull inside her. That magnetic pull that made it nearly impossible to be satisfied by any pair of lips that didn't belong to Samuel Drake.

His hand tenderly cupped the back of her neck as his tongue moved against hers in a rekindled dance and suddenly it was far too soon when he reluctantly pulled away.

"I _really_ don't want to stop," He murmured regretfully, holding her lidded gaze with his own. "But it's not safe out here."

She nodded in understanding, grounding herself back to reality. "Good point."

"Let's just make it out of this alive. _Then_ we can continue where we left off and then some, huh?"

"You're ambitious." She snorted in amusement, folding her arms over her chest.

He glanced at her and smirked. "It's a good thing you 'love my ambition' then, isn't it?"

Of course he would find a way to use her words against her. Charlotte could only shake her head in response as she fought off a dumb grin. Despite the chaos that this hunt was bringing them, she couldn't help but feel lucky. Not only had they survived even the harshest of circumstances, but they were able to continue on despite of them.

Unbeknownst to them, however, that luck was quickly going to change.


	6. Six

 "You see anything?" 

 Sam and Charlotte had made it to their bell tower with surprisingly no trouble. They'd snuck inside easily and gotten to work straight away. 

Leaning against a wall near the aged staircase Sam had climbed up minutes earlier, Charlotte sighed heavily and began to think up ways to get out of the situation she'd stupidly gotten herself in. 

"Not yet!" He called out, sounding further up now.

There _had_ to be a way they could negotiate with Rafe to ensure not only Sam's freedom, but her own. He was a business man, she reasoned to herself before biting her lip in worry. She wanted to help the boys, truly—but she was beginning to have doubts. Not that they’d find the treasure- she knew they would; but that it would come at a cost. _Samantha_.

She’d never really considered herself selfish. No, she’d always done what she needed to do in order to survive, but… this was different. Everything about this job was personal now. There was no way for her to disconnect herself emotionally—it wasn’t possible.

As Charlotte stood there, she reached up every now and then to wipe the blood dripping down her forehead. The wound was pulsating like mad, and she nearly voiced her concern over it before biting her tongue. 

She could hear Sam grunting above her with the added groans of the aged wood he continued to jump on and very slowly slid down the wall to tilt her head back against it.

She must have dozed off however, because the feel of a hand on her shoulder caused her to jolt up with a gasp.

"Hey, hey-- it's just me." Sam's voice washed over her, calming her nerves before the flare of pain in her head started up again. 

A sharp hiss escaped her lips as she stood up, a wave of nausea falling over her, and she grabbed onto Sam’s arm to steady herself until it faded slightly a moment later.

"Charlotte?" Sam questioned, alarmed at her actions.

"I'm fine." She lied unconvincingly, letting go of his arm to move back.

His eyes were flickering over her injury in concern but his mouth was set in a grim line, as if debating what to say before he gave a curt nod. "Come on, Nathan and Victor found it."

They were just walking out the door when Sam stopped and pulled his phone out. "It's Nathan again. _Pro Deus Quod Licentia_..."

"For God and Liberty?" She looked at him questioningly, not as well versed with history as the brothers.

"Oh, my God!" He laughed incredulously before bringing the phone up to his ear. "For God and Liberty-- Nathan, do you understand what this _means_?"

Charlotte heard a sound from her right and only had a split second to react at the sight of Shoreline vehicles speeding up toward them. 

"Oh, _shit_!" Sam yelled out as the mercenaries began firing at them. 

Sprinting toward the jeep, he quickly yelled at her to hold on as he tried to get the engine going. Shoreline was getting closer and her eyes bulged as she witnessed a large tank come speeding up toward the tower.

“Come on!”

Sam’s voice distant, despite the face they were right next to each other as the sounds of gunfire rang out all around them. Charlotte felt fear seize her when the man in the tank pulled out a large weapon. “Sam! He’s got an RPG! _GO_!”

“I’m _trying_!” Sam yelled back as he tried to get the vehicle to start. With a cry of satisfaction, he’d gotten it to roar back to life just as Shoreline shot the RPG at them. The jeep had sped out of the way as the grenade hit the stone walls of the tower behind them, creating a shake to the earth and a deafening boom in the wake of its explosion.

As he sped down the dirt road, Charlotte looked down at her phone in surprise when it began to light up. She and Sam shared a look and she licked her lips in panic as the name continued to flash across the screen. “It’s Rafe.”

“Answer it.” Sam told her, eyes moving back to the road. “Maybe you can convince him to call off these bastards.”

“Unlikely.” She frowned before answering the phone and pushing the speaker button. “Hello, Rafe.”

Rafe’s cool and collected voice greeted her from the other end with a hint of contempt as he responded _. “You know, Charlotte… I’ve got to say I’m disappointed in you.”_

Sam clenched the steering wheel as he listened in.

“Not that you’d believe me, but I didn’t actually intend to get involved in this.” Charlotte retorted truthfully, blinking furiously to ignore the pain in her head.

_“Well, intended or not, you’ve been helping the Drake’s.”_ He responded, _“And I’m afraid I can’t let that slide. Our deal is off.”_

Charlotte’s heart sunk to her stomach and she swallowed thickly. “Wait, just—just wait a minute. We can renegotiate—,”

“ _I’m done playing games!”_ He finally snapped, sounding unhinged. _“I kept you and your daughter off the streets and **this** is how you repay me? You try to steal **my** treasure—kill my men--!?”_

“Rafe—,”

_“I’m not finished!”_ He hissed threateningly before he quickly composed himself. _“It’s a shame, Charlotte. I actually liked you. Now you and those worthless men you call friends will be the reason your daughter ends up just like you—an orphan. But don’t worry—With her genes, I’m sure she’d be a great asset for this kind of life.”_

The threat to Samantha had Charlotte’s panic skyrocket and she wasn’t even aware of the amount of Shoreline vehicles gaining on them. “Don’t you touch her!” She spat manically, gripping the phone tightly as her breathing quickened. “Don’t you even _think_ about going near her, you sonofabitch—,”

_“Goodbye, Charlotte.”_ Rafe’s flat tone responded before he hung up.

“Rafe!? Rafe!”

“Charlie!”

Charlotte stared at her phone in disbelief and ignored Sam. There was no way Rafe was going to use Samantha. She’d kill him ten times over, and anyone else who tried to drag her into this before she’d let that happen.

“ _Charlie_!”

She was just about to respond before one of their tires burst and the car jerked at the action. The screeching sound of its impact with the ground, along with the sparks that were now spitting out from underneath them caused Charlotte to go into survival mode. Her eyes scanned the area quickly before she spotted a man riding a motorbike right behind them.

“Move!” She narrowed her eyes as Sam as he tried to keep the jeep in control. At her demand, he looked over at her and shook his head before she gestured to the mercenary catching up with them. “Get on the bike! Take him out and I can hop on afterward.” When he opened his mouth to argue, she glared fiercely at him and gripped his jacket. “ _GO_!”

Staring at her in confliction for just a second more, he finally nodded and moved so she could take the wheel. He began to shoot at the man on the bike before jumping over and effectively taking him out.

Just as she was going to let go of the wheel, she saw Sam’s eyes widen at something over her shoulder. “LOOK OUT!”

In that split second, Charlotte wasn’t able to turn and see what he’d yelled over before something large hit the jeep and her world seemed to move in slow motion as the sights of the road and fields ahead of her blurred together. Her body was tossed like a ragdoll from the impact and it was as if her mind was moving at a million miles a second while simultaneously being blank.

Time seemed abysmal as Charlotte laid there after the crash. She was only graced a moment of peace during her disorientation before her body reeled from pain all over. Things were blurry, and she blinked rapidly trying to focus on where she was exactly. Shakily, her fingers gripped the steering wheel that pressed up painfully against her ribs and tried to push against it.

When it finally gave way and moved back, a chunk of metal it had been supporting fell on her leg and through her pants. She cried out at the pain of it piercing into her skin and blinked away the spots forming in her vision.

Her breathing was starting to increase in panic, and she gathered every ounce of strength she could to calm down to pull herself free from the wreckage. The thought of Samantha gave her the power to push through, and soon she was crawling out from the passenger’s side into the open field.

The sun beat down on her and she blinked to adjust to its brightness again before feeling another wave of nausea hit her. This time, however, she didn’t fight it and released the contents of her stomach right then on the singed grass.

The relief her body felt after vomiting was short lived, however. Too many questions and worries bombarded her thoughts, forcing her to stand up despite her body’s protests. There was a long, jagged piece of metal sticking out from her thigh and before she could psych herself out, she yanked it out in one swift movement with a strangled gasp.

The pain was immeasurable, but she only pressed forward. There was no sight of Shoreline or Sam, and she didn’t know whether to be relieved or more worried. Rafe’s words replayed themselves in her head, and she gripped her pants but was unsurprised to feel no phone. It had to have been damaged in the wreck, she mused silently before thinking of her next move.

She had to get back to the hotel—she had to get to Sully.

She needed to get out of this situation and back home to Samantha. Fuck the treasure, and fuck the job—she’d start over. Find somewhere safe for her and Samantha. Was it running away? Grunting, she began walking and kept her eyes out for anything to get her to the motel and refused to answer her own question. It didn’t matter, she reasoned. All that mattered was Samantha’s safety. Hell, she’d been through this before. She knew the rights from the wrongs now.

“Oh!” She murmured in relief at the sight of an electric scooter further ahead, propped against a worn out shed. Ignoring the pain with every step she took, she jogged toward it with a limp and hurriedly tried to hotwire it before anyone showed up. With a grunt, she kick started it and took off toward the motel.

She only had her prayers to comfort her for the safety of the boys, but quickly assured herself that they were fine.

Her heart was hammering in her chest at the distant sounds of chaos happening nearby, confirming the boys had to be alive, and she willed herself to drive faster in hopes it would stay that way.

It didn’t take too long for her to reach the motel, but the sun was beginning to set as she pulled into the parking lot. Feeling thankful Nathan had given her the extra room key, she pulled it from the zipped pocket in her cargo pants and fell against the opened door with exhaustion. Knowing she was somewhat safe now slowed her adrenaline and the pain she felt amplified.

A familiar click of a gun met her ears and Charlotte immediately reached for her own before realizing she was unarmed. She inhaled sharply and looked up to see a blonde woman pointing a gun at her and she raised her arms warily. “Whoa—“

“Who are you?” The woman questioned, narrowing her eyes.

Furrowing her brows, Charlotte noticed this woman wasn’t wearing the Shoreline uniforms and looked back up with confusion. “You’re not Shoreline?”

At Charlotte’s question, the woman’s stance became less defensive but the gun was not lowered.

Checking the room, Charlotte confirmed this was in fact _their_ room and figured if this woman was going to shoot her, she would’ve done so already. So instead, she talked. “I’m Charlotte.” She spoke raggedly, feeling a bit lightheaded. She gestured to the room, “This is my room—,”

“No,” The other woman interrupted, “It’s under the name Victor Sullivan.”

“You know Sully?”

At that, the woman blinked at her and slowly lowered the gun. “…Do you?”

“I’m working with him.” Charlotte responded truthfully, before glancing at the first aid kit that sat on top of Sam’s bag on the bed. “Please don’t shoot me. I need to patch myself up.”

The woman nodded, still looking a bit warily at her as Charlotte crossed the room to sit on the bed with a groan. The blonde glanced at her wounds and bit her lip. “You’re beat up pretty bad.”

“Yeah, no kidding.” Charlotte breathed out as she began to tend to her wounds. She looked up and let her eyes roam the woman’s form. She was a bit taller than her, and had a troubled look in her eye. “No offense or anything, but who the hell are you and how did you get in?”

The woman eyed her, most likely debating on whether or not to tell her before a heavy sigh left her lips. “My name’s Elena Fisher. I’m a friend of Sully’s.”

“Elena?” Charlotte blinked as the name rang a few bells in her head. “You’re Nate’s wife.”

Her eyes widened slightly at that before a troubled expression appeared on her face. “He _is_ here, then.”

“Um, yeah.” Charlotte grimaced in confusion before a sick realization came over her. The hurt in Elena’s eyes, the deep set frown on her face as her eyes moved over the clues pinned onto the wall. “… You didn’t know about the job…”

She chuckled bitterly and walked over to the desk to look at the maps there. “…No. I didn’t.”

An awkward silence fell over them as Charlotte continued to tend her wounds, and by the time she’d wrapped her leg in fresh bandages, she felt a heavy burden over her chest. Looking up, she watched as Elena continued to go through Nathan’s things and bit her lip before a thought struck her.

“Elena?” She spoke up, gaining the other woman’s attention. “Not to be weird, but do you have a phone I could use really quick?”

Elena reached into her back pocket and pulled out her cell phone before handing it over. Charlotte took it with a low ‘thanks’ before dialing her daughter’s number. When Samantha didn’t pick up, a sick feeling began to form in the pit of her stomach at the thought of Rafe having already done something to her. And when the beep went off to leave a voicemail, she tried to conceal the panic in her tone. “Baby? It’s Mom. I uh, I lost my cell phone. Call me back right away—I just want to make sure you’re okay. Call me back on this number, okay? I love you.”

She hung up and tried once more to get through, but was again met with voicemail.

When she lifted the phone to hand it back to Elena, she noticed the other woman giving her a slightly less wary look. “Is your daughter okay?”

“I—“ Charlotte choked on the words as they formed on her tongue. “I don’t know. All I know is I’m not risking her safety to find some fucking treasure.”

“So it’s true then?” Elena shook her head. “That’s what Nate’s after? Henry Avery’s treasure?”

Charlotte bit her lip, feeling a bit guilty for being in the middle of what she assumed would be a marital dispute but nodded her head anyway. “Yeah… I’m sorry.”

“I had a feeling...” Elena chuckled bitterly with a pained expression. “I just…”

She turned back around toward the desk and ran her fingers across the papers. Before Charlotte could speak, the door opened at her head snapped to the side just as Nathan, Sam and Sully came walking in.

She saw the widening of Nathan’s eyes as he witnessed his wife standing there, and quickly got up to try and give them some privacy. Sully grabbed her uninjured arm, and kept her in place as the couple began to speak despite their presence.

Her head hung low as she listened the two argue and did her best to stay unattached to the conversation. It was obvious Nathan had hurt her deeply with his lies, and her heart went out to Elena. From all the talk he’d made of her before, Charlotte knew she was a remarkable woman and she mentally chided him for his actions.

However, once Elena had left and he’d snapped at Sully to follow her, Charlotte pushed herself away from the wall and grabbed her things—fully intending to follow the older man to get her the hell out of this country.

Sam took notice of her actions and walked up to her with a confused expression. “Whoa, where’s the fire?”

“I’m leaving, Sam.” She told him seriously, gaining Nathan’s attention as well.

His mouth parted and his brows furrowed as he stared at her and shook his head. “Leaving? What—come on, Charlie. We’re closer now than we’ve ever been before! Listen, we found out where Avery kept the treasure. It's in Libertalia. _The_ Libertalia!”

Disgusted by his complete disregard for the dire circumstances this treasure was causing everyone, she felt her face contort in disbelief. “Are you joking right now? Because I honestly can’t tell anymore.”

“Look,” He lowered his voice to try and calm her as his hands fell to her shoulders. “I know things seem fucked right now—,” 

“Sam,” She interrupted him, putting her hand up to cut him off. “Did you not _hear_ what Rafe said about Samantha!? About our _daughter_!?”

His face shifted and he frowned deeply at her while still maintaining his determined gaze. “Charlie, he’s just trying to scare you—,”

The anger inside her was suddenly boiling, and she wondered who this man in front of her was. This was _not_ the Samuel Drake she knew. This was a man obsessed. Unhinged.

Her teeth clenched together and she held his gaze with her own livid one. “ _You_ may be willing to bet her life on that, but I’m _not_. I’m going home and then Samantha and I are going to go someplace safe. Right now, tell me if you’re willing to join me—to join us. If not, move out of my way.”

His mouth opened and closed unsurely, and her heart tightened painfully at his reaction.

Pushing past him, he suddenly grabbed her arm and spun her around. There was an emotion in his eyes she’d never seen before as he spoke, but she didn’t allow herself to dwell on it. “You really believe Rafe is going to give up coming after you? If we find this treasure, we a hell of a better chance at starting new. I can keep you and Samantha safe.”

Charlotte yanked her arm back and shook her head. “I hope you find the treasure, Sam.” She felt her eyes begin to well up with angry tears at his choice and way of thinking. “I really do.”

“Charlie—,” He begged her with grief-stricken eyes. “Don’t. Please.”

Her heart clenched at his whispered words, but she only shook her head and forced herself walk out the door.

He didn’t come after her.

She didn’t look back.


	7. Seven

_Thank you so much for the feedback, guys! xoxo_

III

Charlotte was sitting in the bed of a rundown motel with a journal across her lap, propped up against faded brown pillows she was sure were once white. Her eyes kept moving back to the clock on the wall, each second moving slower and slower as she stared at the turning hands.

It was nearing three in the morning, and her jaw clenched tightly when the window across the room burst open, causing her to grab the gun on the pillow next to her with lightning fast reflexes. An annoyed huff escaped her lips when she saw who it was and quickly lowered the gun to the nightstand.

Of course it was him.

"You're back." She mumbled sourly, going back to her journal as Sam climbed over the window ledge and hopped into the room. The smell of alcohol and cigarettes permeated her nostrils, causing her grimace in distaste. "There is a door, you know."

"Sorry, doll." He grinned before he threw himself onto the bed beside her. He wasn't drunk, per say—but he was definitely buzzed. "Lost my key."

"Where were you, Sam?" She turned to him and bit out angrily. To say she was disappointed would have been an understatement. Holed up two days in this room, in a city she was unfamiliar with when, he promised her he'd only be gone a few hours… thinking about it made her blood boil.

He groaned, obviously prepared to be interrogated, and lifted his head. "Can we not do this tonight, Charlie? I just lost the _one_ lead I had to getting that letter, and I don't want to make my night shittier by arguing."

Charlotte pursed her lips sardonically and refrained from scoffing. Hot, angry tears gathered at the corners of her eyes and she nodded curtly. He really had no idea why she was mad, she realized. The hurt was worse than the anger.

"Sure." She agreed with a tight throat before she tossed the journal on the floor and turned off the light.

Sam sighed heavily behind her as she tucked herself into the covers away from him.

"What happened with the lead?" She pressed, unable to keep quiet. She _wanted_ to get under his skin. He didn't want to argue? So what? She wanted to. She wanted to know why he'd brought her here if it meant ditching her to go off and get drunk with some of his buddies while she sat around on her ass doing nothing.

Sam shifted again, and she could feel his breath on the back of her neck. "Charlie—,"

She shrugged, feeling the brush of his lips on her shoulder. "No, I mean it must've been serious, right? Serious enough to not bother with a phone call or anything."

He was annoyed now, she could tell. But it only encouraged her to keep going. "It's not like I thought you'd remember what today was, or anything."

"Today?" He questioned, only digging the knife in her heart further. Then, she felt his body freeze as realization dawned on him. "Shit… Charlie, I'm so sorry— I've been so busy… I completely forgot."

Charlotte swallowed the dry lump in her throat at his apology and nodded. "It's okay, Sam. Nineteen's a boring age for a birthday anyway."

He turned her to face him and kissed her gently, trying to express his apology in a different way, but she slowly pulled away. He frowned guiltily at her before speaking again. "I'll make it up to you. Tomorrow! I'm taking you out tomorrow. We'll go sightseeing, check out that astronomy museum that you talked about—,"

All of that would've sounded wonderful to Charlotte days ago. But now it just seemed to add to the uneasy feeling in her stomach. He was never going to change. This wasn't the first birthday he'd forgotten, and she realized it wouldn't be the last. His heart didn't belong to her, it belonged to the chase, the thrill of adventure… of his jobs.

No whispered words or well-placed kisses could speak louder than his repetitive actions.

Could she really do this for another five years, she thought to herself. Another ten? Twenty? Be with someone who would leave for days— _weeks_ —at a time at the drop of a hat and not even tell her? To put her second to a dead pirate? For years now she'd made excuses for him, but now…

This was supposed to be the trip she would give herself fully to him. Despite the fact it was her birthday, she had planned a nice evening for them to go out. Made reservations, bought a nice dress… Now, the clothing sat at the bottom of her bag, unworn and ready to be returned to the store.

"Come on, doll." Sam pleaded, kneading the soft skin of her arms between his fingers in a gentle massage. "Don't be mad. Just watch, I'll make it up to you."

"Okay." Charlotte forced a smile before she kissed his cheek and fell back against the pillows.

She let the kneading of his fingers guide her into a deep sleep, which he soon followed after.

When he awoke the next morning, however, there was only the vacant spot next to him where her body should've been. His fingers reached out for warm skin, but all they felt were cold sheets and a page from her journal with the delicate scrawl.

_I can't do this anymore. I'm Sorry_

III

"Why would he do that, Sully?" Elena breathed out roughly from the passenger's seat of Sullivan's plane. The tears had run dry by now, and there was nothing Charlotte could do but be respectful and try to give the two their privacy as she sat further in the back.

Time was a fickle thing, however, and the more she sat in her chair, the more she wondered if she was overthinking this whole mess. Rafe was a psychotic nutjob, but he wasn't someone who would hurt children— was he?

Sam's life was hanging in the balance, and despite the vehemence she'd felt toward him earlier that night, there was no way losing him to death for a second time would leave her unaffected.

Why was he so damned stubborn? Why did he have to be such an idiot when it came to the real things that mattered? You could buy many things with treasure, but you couldn't buy back life.

"We'll let him sweat it." Sully's voice waded over her, pulling her back from her thoughts. "For now, we can't stay in this city. Let's get somewhere a little less populated."

"Where are we going?" Charlotte finally spoke up, walking toward the cockpit. The engine of the plane roared to life, somewhat drowning out her question as they lifted into the air. "Sully, I need to get back home."

Sully blinked at her and gave her a confused look. "You're going to let that asshole off the hook like that?"

"Sam's a grown man fully capable of making his own decisions." She quipped. "I'm the one who needs your help now."

"What's going on, kid?"

She gripped the metal archway tightly as Rafe's words replayed in her head. "You have no excuse to fly off to Mexico this time, so I need you to get me and Samantha out of this mess. New identities, new papers—I'll pay you as soon as we get home—,"

"Sorry, darlin'." Sully scoffed with a shake of his head as he waved her off. "But I ain't helping you with that."

Charlotte stare up at the old mad incredulously with a hint of disbelief that quickly changed to indigence. "Wha—Why the hell not!?"

"You've been running your whole life, and now you're going to drag your girl into it?" He questioned concernedly with just enough edge in his tone to let her know he very much disagreed with her decision.

"That's not for you to decide!" She snapped back furiously.

"Now, now." He waved his hand, getting frustrated himself. "Just hear me out a goddamned second. You're worried Rafe is going to come after her, right? Well, knowing that asshole, getting you back to the states is probably his intention. Getting you out of the picture only helps his case. He knows what to say to get things his way."

Despite herself, Charlotte had to admit Sully was right. In all the time she'd known Rafe, she'd come to understand that unlike the Drake brothers, he was anything but impulsive. He was patient. Calculative.

"I say you come with me and Elena to the Island and confront him head on." He told her, lighting up a cigar before putting it out at Elena's dry look. "Put an end to this without ruinin' that little girl's life and in the meantime save those boys'."

Elena was silent in the passenger seat, looking out the window as she stewed in her own problems. Charlotte bit her lip and felt herself being pulled both directions of thinking. Her hand reached out toward Elena and she called her name quietly. "May I use your phone again?"

"Oh, sure." Elena nodded before pulling it out of her pocket and handing it over.

Sully was staring at her, awaiting her decision as she dialed.

" _Hello_?" A voice answered after the fourth ring.

Charlotte heaved a huge sigh of relief. "You're okay."

" _Um, yeah?_ " Samantha chuckled in confusion. " _Why wouldn't I be?"_

"Just… had a bad dream, is all." She mumbled, reaching up to run her hand over her face. "How are you, Cricket? How's the trip going?"

" _It's great! We're just about to head to the cinemas!"_ She answered excitedly.

"Okay, good." Charlotte nodded, reaching up to play with the torn hem of her shirt. "Listen to me, I want you to stick with your group no matter what, okay? Don't talk to anyone that you don't know."

" _Mom_ …" Samantha's tone changed. " _You're kind of freaking me out now. And you're not using your cell. Is everything okay? Should I be worried_?"

Her daughter was only fifteen and she was worried about her… she was afraid something was wrong… these thoughts caused a wave of guilt to crash over Charlotte and she blinked back tears gathering in her eyes.

Sully was right. If she didn't face this problem head on, Samantha would cease to have any of the normalcy she'd fought tooth and nail for her to have. She wouldn't be Samantha Drake Walsh anymore. She'd have to be someone new, and that killed Charlotte to even think about.

"No," She answered with a light chuckle. "I just lost my cell. I'm uh, I'm using a friend's right now. And don't you worry. I just had a rough night is all because I miss you so much, but my job is almost over. I just have to take care of one more problem before I'm home."

" _So you finally got him_?"

"No." She answered, looking up at Sully and giving a firm nod. "But I will."

_I will._


	8. Chapter 8

_thank you so much for reading and commenting xoxo_

_please forgive any errors -- unbeta'd_

III

The storm that passed over King's Bay was a hindrance and quite frankly, very inconvenient. Their journey delayed now by a full day, while annoying, didn't change their plan.

Charlotte, Elena and Sully shared easy conversations amongst each other as they flew over the stretch of island. Having that day holed up with one another gave the women time to talk and learn about each other, while Sully griped about being stuck with 'girl talk'.

"Here we are." Sully spoke over the sound of his plane, breaking Charlotte from her deep thoughts. The plane settled on a low ledge of land, and the two women hopped out, fully prepared and ready to begin their trek.

"You sure you don't wanna come, Sully?" Elena asked him for the second time as she secured her gear.

Sully chuckled roughly and shook his head. "Won't be able to help those two idiots much if I fall and break my back now, will I?"

"Fair point." Elena grinned.

As Charlotte and Elena made their way through the dense foliage, a series of explosions and gunshots caught their attention and they exchanged glances.

"Shit, I'm hearing it come from both directions." Charlotte frowned, looking at the blonde warily.

"Yeah, same here." Elena nodded. "You think they split up?"

"With those two, it's hard to tell." Charlotte snorted, rubbing a hand over her face. "I could never pick their brains very well."

"I say we split up." Elena told her after another explosion went off. "Cover more ground that way."

"Good idea." Charlotte nodded. "You keep the radio, though. I'll take the flare gun in case shit goes down. That way both of us have a way to signal Sully."

"Yeah." Elena agreed, handing her the small flare gun. "Don't get killed."

Charlotte smiled wryly. "Yeah, you either."

And off they went on their separate ways.

She didn't know how long she was out there, feeling like a damned monkey as she tried to scale the jagged cliffs and rocks, but it felt like hours.

The sun had moved a good distance since she and Elena split up, but she pushed forward. "Move your ass, Charlie."

It wasn't long after that Charlotte spotted Shoreline soldiers loitering a few areas, and she chose to sneak by them instead of throw herself in a battle she'd rather avoid.

Sweat was running down her neck and chest, leaving her looking and smelling less than desirable, but she didn't particularly care. It wasn't until the earth shook beneath her and a thunderous sound from only a few miles away caught her attention. It sounded like the earth was being split for how booming it was, and she knew instantly the boys were involved.

The soles of her boots slapped against the soil beneath her as she sprinted toward the source of commotion. The echo of gunshots was getting louder and she could faintly see a line of smoke billowing into the sky a short distance away.

"Ho- _ly_ shit." She had pulled herself over a short cliff before the area before her stopped her dead in her tracks. A hysterical giggle broke free before she slapped a hand over her mouth as her eyes drank in the place in front her. "…Libertalia."

She allowed herself a small moment to admire the ancient town before moving again. Footprints further ahead caused her to slow down and she crouched to catch her breath as she inspected the prints in the mud.

"Definitely not shoreline." She frowned, feeling a bit of her knowledge from work take over. "These must belong to Sam or Nathan. I must be getting close...” A sigh escaped her lips as her head dropped to her chest, “Wow, Charlie. Stop talking to yourself, or you’ll come off as crazy."

She followed the footprints for a bit, jogging to keep speed but not tire herself out until her boot caught itself in a low tree root. A gasp escaped her lips as she lost her balance. Suddenly, she was rolling quite rapidly down a steep slope – the rocks and foliage against her skin may as well have been needles and glass as they pierced her body. She could feel her skin stretch and tear at the bluntness of it all, and just as soon as her descent had begun, it came to an abrupt stop.

 _I’m alive_! Charlotte blinked the dizziness away.

"Oh, and I thought this day couldn't get any better." A voice from above her laid out position laughed.

Or not. Her stomach plummeted to her knees and before she could push herself up, a glove covered hand gripped her by her hair and pulled her to a standing position.

" _Stop_!"

"Sam?" Charlotte gasped as she saw him standing just a few feet away, looking bloodied and bruised. Around him were Rafe, Nadine, and three burly mercenaries, one of which was standing behind her with a rather painful grip on her hair.

"Look what we have here, Nadine." Rafe grinned, walking over to stand in front of her. "Little Charlie Walsh. I've gotta say, you have balls to come out here after what you did."

"Rafe—," her eyes flickered back to Sam and she felt a bit of panic at the stream of blood coming down his arm. "I know I pissed you off--,"

"Pissed me off?" He laughed incredulously as a sadistic look glinted off his gaze. "No, you did more than that."

"Rafe, let her go." Sam grit out, clenching his fists at his side as one of the mercenaries took a step closer to him with his gun up. "She's got nothing to do with this. I'll help you with the goddamn treasure, just let her go."

"As touching as your stoic heroism bit is, I'm going to pass." Rafe rolled his eyes, "But I must say, you two make quite the pair. The thief and the backstabber – truly, your daughter will be so proud."

"I'm not a backstabber." Charlotte grit out angrily, "I told you I didn't intend to get caught up with them!"

Rafe's sarcastic grin grew into a full blown smirk and she wondered what was going on in his head. She didn't have to wait long however as he clapped his hands together and threw his head back in a short laugh. "Oh, this is too good!"

Her eyes narrowed as he took another step toward her before gesturing to Sam. "Actually, I referring to our dear Samuel. After all, only someone _really_ ruthless would lie to the people they claim to love."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Charlotte snapped, not in the mood for mind games. "And where's Nathan?"

"Sam?" Rafe looked back at the other man. Charlotte looked over at Sam and felt a sinking feeling in her stomach at the look of pure anguish on his face. "You wanna explain or should I?"

"Tell me what?" She breathed out, looking back from Rafe to Sam. "What's he talking about, Sam?"

"Jesus, this will go on forever." Rafe rolled his eyes before lifting his gun up to her forehead. "How about we make your last thoughts unpleasant? I need to speed things up."

"Don't fucking touch her!"

"Nadine," Rafe signaled before the woman kicked the back of Sam's knees and caused him to fall with a grunt.

"Stop!" Charlotte cried out, putting her hands up. "I-I'm listening, just stop!"

"I'm going to assume Sam gave you the same bullshit story he gave Nate, right? Alcazar, fifteen years in prison, blah, blah, blah."

"What...?" Her brows furrowed as she looked back to Sam being pulled back up to his feet. "I don't..."

"How would you feel, Charlie, if you found out that not only had Sam _lied_ to you, but that he'd been free from prison the last two years?"

Charlotte shook her head. "You’re the only lying sack of shit here, Rafe."

"Am I?" Rafe raised a brow, "I'm literally _shocked_ how naive you and Nate can be when it comes to him. What's Sam ever done for you, huh? Except bring you disappointment?"

"Shut up." Charlotte’s voice trembled as she blinked back tears, "I—"

"He was with me the past two years searching for the Saint Dismas cross, and guess what? Not _once_ did he ask about you." Rafe persisted, enjoying the pained look on her face. "Took himself a few women here and there, too, didn't you, buddy?"

She turned to Sam, expecting to hear him deny these claims, but he stayed quiet with a look of guilt across his face.

Charlotte felt sick. Here he was talking about fifteen years of hell when in fact he'd been out for two years, roaming the world with this rich asshole and laying with women that weren't her. He hadn't tried to find her, hadn't tried to find Nathan-- and _Samantha_ \--!

"Oh, god..." She clenched her eyes shut and turned her head as a wave of nausea hit her.

"Charlie, I'm sorry. Please--" Sam pleaded for her to look at him. He wanted nothing more than to rewind time and make things right, but he couldn't. "I was going to make things _right_. I was going to find you! I swear, I was going to find you and Nathan--,"

"What do you want me to do?" Charlotte spoke up loudly, not wanting to listen anymore. "What can I do to pay off my debt to you? For you to leave me and Samantha to live our lives?"

Rafe's eyebrows shot up and he looked back to see Sam's crestfallen expression. "Why don't you stay quiet until we find Avery's ship and then we'll talk."

"Jesus, Charlie will you _look_ at me-!?" Sam moved forward, trying to get her attention.

"Rafe, finish this." Nadine finally interrupted impatiently. "We're burning daylight."

"Hm?" He looked over his shoulder and nodded. "Oh, right, right."

He gestured to the mercenary behind her. "Tie her hands and place that rag over her mouth." He instructed before turning to catch Sam’s menacing glare. “In case you get any ideas.”

The trek to Henry Avery's mansion is long and tedious. Charlotte’s cargo pants and top were damp and torn from behind dragged around in the water and buildings, and her wrists are starting to cry out in protest to the thick rope binding them together.

She can feel Sam's stare burning at the back of her head but refuses to look up at him. He lied-- he _lied_ for _weeks_!

Jesus, those two Drake's were more similar than they imagined, she thought to herself. Since asking, Charlotte, still hadn't received an answer on where Nathan was, so she could only pray that he was somewhere safe. Maybe even with Elena.

Listening to Rafe and Nadine speak with one another was an annoyance in itself. The furtive glances, bloodthirsty remarks, and tunnel vision demands were enough to grate her nerves.

Finally, after what felt like hours, they'd reached Avery's mansion, but Charlotte couldn't help but feel weary instead of amazed at its structure. There were bound to be traps all around this place, weren’t there?

She could hear yelling up ahead and felt her eyes well up at the sight of Sam being beaten for the third time on their trek together. Yes, he was a lying bastard, but she still loved him. Watching him suffer like for senseless violence was enough for her to try and wriggle free from her binds. " _Smmfph_!"

Her muffled cries did little to lessen the blows on his body. When Rafe was sated, he raised a hand and then helped Sam to his feet. _He's psychotic_ , she thought to herself as she watched that lazy smirk split across his features.

Sam's eyes looked up and there was no way he wouldn't know she'd been staring. So she held onto his gaze, hoping he wouldn’t give up just yet.

Before she could recall what was going on or where they were, they'd walked down into some type of cave and she instantly halted in apprehension.

"Move." The mercenary behind her prodded at her with the tip of his gun. Charlotte shook her head, knowing this place was bound to be rigged with horrific traps. If she was going to die, she'd rather a clean shot to the head than being impaled by spikes or devoured by spiders. The man hit her harder with the butt of his gun and yelled, "I said move!"

The sound alerted the rest of the group and they turned to see the man spin her around to backhand her for disobedience.

The smack of his hand colliding with her cheek echoed in the narrow walls, and she grunted in both shock and pain.

"Hey!" Sam yelled out furiously as he tried to run to her fallen form. Nadine was quick to intervene and the shoved the steel toe of her boot into his shin with just enough force to have him fall to his knees. " _Don't_ fucking touch her! I swear to God _, if you lay your hands on her again_ , I'll--"

"You'll what?" The mercenary sneered, pulling her up by her hair again, causing her to whimper at the pain of it. Her head was still healing from its last injury and this manhandling wasn’t doing it any favors.

"Yes, Samuel." Rafe patronized, "You'll _what_?"

Sam stood back up shakily before he wiped the blood off his chin. His face hardened as he leveled his gaze with Rafe's. "You or your men lay one more hand on her, you can find the treasure your goddamned selves."

"You're in no position to be making threats." Rafe glowered before pressing the barrel of his gun to Sam's temple.

He didn't flinch as the cool metal pressed against his skin. "Do it, then. See how far you get."

Charlotte felt her heart hammer in her chest, at a complete loss at what Rafe was going to do. He was too unpredictable. Then he growled— _growled_ – and lowered the weapon to his side before gesturing to the man behind her. "Hand her over. She stays with me."

Her chest was heaving and she could feel the edges of the rag dig into the corners of her mouth as she tried to slow her breathing down.

Sam watched her with a clenched jaw before sharing a pointed look with the man now gripping her forearm.

Rafe squeezed her arm tightly and waved his hand that still gripped a gun, "After you, Samuel."

Charlotte could feel her composure slip. There was no treasure to be found down in the cave, she was sure of it. Only death. She was shaking with fear and she hated herself for it. Gone was the adrenaline that usually made her feel so brave.

Sam's hazel eyes held onto her own and he inclined his head forward as he looked down at her. "I'll get us out of here." He promised before adding for Rafe's benefit, " _All_ of us. Just trust me."

She didn't know which was more difficult to believe—that he would, or that he wouldn’t.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> unbeta'd

“I don’t trust him.”

“Yeah, well, when’s the last time you trusted anybody, Charlie?”

Charlotte looked up from her leaned position against the shabby motel dresser and shook her head at Sam’s snappy retort. She glanced over to Nathan, who was busy sitting on the bed, scanning a letter they claimed to be written by one of Captain Henry Avery’s crew.

“Watch your tone with me.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “You came to _me_ for help on nabbing that piece of paper, remember? I’m just saying it’s fucking suspicious, alright? You two all of a sudden trusting some silver-spooned asshole you just met to take you across the world and into a prison?”

“For the record, I don’t trust him either.” Nathan spoke up, glancing to his brother.

Sam sighed from his seat at the table and ran a hand through his tousled hair. “Not helping, Nathan.”

“Just sayin’…”

Sam stood up from his spot, looking aggravated. “Look, I’ve got enough on my mind right now than to have you two ganging up on me, alright? Nathan and I are going with Rafe, end of story.”

Charlotte chuckled incredulously and lifted her hands up. “Fine. Not like you two have ever listened to me anyway. Why waste my breath.”

“Come on, Charlie, that’s not fair.” Nathan frowned at her, slightly stung by her words.

Sam narrowed his eyes at her and held her gaze as he spoke. “Nathan, can you give Charlie and me a minute?”

Nathan looked between the two and pocketed the letter. “Uh, yeah. I’ll uh, I’ll just head over to Sully’s room.”

Once he left, Charlotte crossed her arms and raised a brow at Sam. “Let’s not do this, okay?”

Sam took a step toward her and grimaced. “What? You’re not going to talk to me at all?”

“We’ve talked plenty this past week.”

“You know what I mean, Charlie.” He sighed, staring seriously at her. “…Why’d you do it?”

Charlotte pursed her lips and turned away. For the past week since she’d been contacted by the brothers, she’d been dreading this conversation. After she’d left that motel room two years ago, she’d done her best to disappear. It was easy, she’d been practicing the past five years with Kramer. But just a week ago, Sully had found her—told her just how badly the boys needed her help with a job and she begrudgingly accepted, despite her better judgment.

Things had been tense. She’d been introduced to the brothers’ new partner, Rafe, and tried not to overreact when they’d discussed their plan for Panama.

“What do you want me to say, Sam?” She looked down, clutching her arm to her side. Her heart hammered rapidly in her chest, and she wondered if he could hear it in the tense silence.

“I woke up and you were gone.” He told her gruffly, looking a cross between hurt and indigent. “With nothing but a damned note. You know how that fucking felt?”

“Yeah, I do.” She quipped back with a scoff, irritated by his need to turn the guilt on her. “It was probably the same feeling I had to deal with waking up to _you_ gone—or maybe it’s the same way I felt having to go to bed most nights wondering where you were at. It’s _probably_ the same way I felt every damn day you left without the _courtesy_ of a note or indication of where you were going or if you’d even be alright! So don’t you dare play the victim in this!”

He had nothing to say to that, and she could see her words had struck a chord in him. “…I-I didn’t know…”

“Of course you didn’t.” She scoffed before feeling her heart clench at his pained expression. Even still, after all the shit he’d put her through, she was still in love with him. Infuriatingly head over heels… But she couldn’t continue to make excuses for him. She wasn’t going to allow herself. “Listen… there’s no way I’d ever believe you would give up this search for Avery’s treasure—I wouldn’t ask you to… but, I’m _telling_ you that this idea you guys have is incredibly stupid. You’ve been to jails, yes—but this is different, okay? This is a prison in an impoverished country! I just…”

Sam cupped her chin lightly between his fingers and she did little to resist as the words trailed off her tongue. It’d been so long she had felt his touch, and she hated how it still managed to weaken her resolve. “Jesus, I missed you so much, Charlie.”

“Sam… don’t.” She clenched her eyes shut, feeling her heart pick up speed at his words.

But Samuel Drake was not a man to give up on what he desired. And his heart was set on Charlotte. “I just… I miss us. I miss you. _God_ , do I miss you.”

Her resolve was crumbling and she hated herself for it. Her eyes stared up into his and she could feel her throat become dry. “You seem to be doing just fine without me.”

“No.” He shook his head, trailing his fingers down her neck. “I didn’t stop trying to find you, you know.”

She knew. She’d made it a point to ignore any type of contact he’d tried to initiate. “I wanted it that way.”

“I don’t care what you say.” He continued, inching his face closer to hers. “I don’t care how pissed I make you— I _know_ you, Charlie. I know you run away from your feelings, you close yourself off. But I’m asking you, please… _please_ don’t shut me out.” He paused slightly, searching her eyes longingly. “I know I’ve fucked up… But Jesus, you’re my best friend… I can’t—I don’t want to lose you…”

She could feel her eyes well up with emotion at the honesty in his words, at the adamancy in his gaze… She reached up to cup his hand in hers and sighed shakily. “I just… I can’t let myself be hurt again, Sam. I want to trust you, I _do_. I lo—“ Her mouth snapped shut, catching her almost-slip and she didn’t have time to react before he gently placed his lips over hers, almost hesitantly as he waited for her to make the next move.

She gripped the denim of his jacket tightly in her fists and breathed out against his mouth shakily.

“Tell me to stop, and I will.” He whispered, sounding strained as his hands hovered over her waist. “But I’d _really_ prefer if you didn’t.”

She knew she’d regret it, but there was something about him that was intoxicating. Drunk off of his proximity, from the smell of his cologne, from the way his looks spoke more than his words—

“Charlotte?” He whispered breathlessly as his eyes searched hers, waiting for the permission he desperately desired.

From the sound of her full name on his lips, she knew she was gone.

Charlotte pulled the lapels of his jacket and kissed him with an urgency she was sure he’d be able to feel deep in his bones.

Sam wasted no time in returning the kiss with equal fervor, allowing his hands to grip into her waist.

“Make me forget, Sam…” She moaned quietly, pushing his coat off. He looked down at her with a bit of confusion mixed in with his lust-filled gaze.

“What?”

“Make me forget that you’re leaving.” She told him with a slight grimace, “Make me forget that this could potentially be the last time we see each other.”

“Charlie,” He frowned at her words, pulling away slightly.

“No.” She shook her head, not wanting to be coddled with false promises. She didn’t know if Kramer would ever find her, or if she’d even be around when they came back. She didn’t know if what they were searching for in Panama would lead them on another wild goose chase... There were so many factors paying into their situation, it wasn’t hard to be linger on the reality of it. “Let’s not beat around the bush here, okay? You and Nathan are not one the most reliable—,”

“Hey,” He interrupted with furrowed brows before tilting her head up to stare down at her seriously. “We _are_ coming back, doll. All the things I’ve said aren’t just to butter you up – I _mean_ them. I want you in my life, and once we come back, I promise you, I’m going to spend every day trying to prove it.”

He was so insistent—so _earnest_ … the doubt that had grown itself in her heart slowly melted away and she nodded her head slowly. “Okay. Okay, I trust you, Sam.”

And she held onto the memory of them together each day after he left.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> unbeta'd -- please forgive any errors. It's been a long day.

_"Charlie!?"_ _  
  
"Focus on the puzzle, Samuel!"  
  
"Check on her!"_  
  
"Ughn..." Charlotte blinked wearily as the sounds of distant arguing was overwhelmed by the ringing in her ears. To be frank, she was getting fed up with blacking out.   
  
A hand grabbed her by her armpit and hauled her up roughly, causing her to cry out in pain. As her vision adjusted to the darkness, the sight of two impaled mercenaries just a few feet below her jolted her out of the haze she'd been under from the blast of the cave's trap, and back into the harsh reality of their situation.  
  
"--ou okay? Charlie?"  
  
Charlotte looked up to see Sam staring worriedly at her, a bit of panic in his widened eyes. "Shit! Your arm!"  
  
She looked down to see the wound she'd acquired just a few days prior had reopened and was looking far too similar to sliced piece of raw meat-- her stomach turned at the sight of it, knowing she needed to be stitched up as soon as possible. She wanted to reassure him that she okay, that she'd _be_ okay, but her mouth was still gagged. And judging by the aggravated look on Rafe's face, she wasn't about to receive any sympathy.   
  
"Get back to work!" Nadine's voice ordered curtly, no doubt angered over the additional men lost. " _Now_ , Drake!"  
  
"Not until you make sure she doesn't bleed out." He responded evenly, pointing his finger to her arm.   
  
"Jesus Christ," Rafe mumbled irritably before he tore off more of her shirt, exposing the lower part of her abdomen, and wrapped it around her arm. "There, she's fine. Now move."  
  
Sam looked torn between staying where he was at, lest he cause more problems for the both of them, and running over to grab her and haul her ass out.   
  
Of course, he didn't act on the former. Instead, he bit back a retort and continued to work on a way to get them across the rigged floor before them.   
  
After a short time, he managed to figure out the puzzle and get the group, save for the few men who perished from the first blast, across safely.   
  
It seemed endless, the amount of walking they were doing. And with the only source of light being a few flares, it wasn't hard to panic at the prospect of never making it out alive. Especially when having to deal with Henry Avery's psychotic booby traps at every corner.   
  
Charlotte was sure she would develop a hearing problem _if_ they ever made it out.   
  
An explosion went off, startling her and she turned around in confusion. It sounded like it had come from further behind them, and her heart began to hammer at the prospect of it being Nathan or Elena. She wasn't off in her hopes if Rafe or Nadine's reactions were anything to go by.   
  
"He couldn't..." Rafe frowned, letting go of her arm momentarily as he pushed back a few mercenaries. "There's no way..."  
  
Charlotte jumped slightly as she felt a hand brush her arm but the shock was quickly replaced with anxiety as she saw Sam inching toward her. She knew that look in his eye...  
  
He was taking the group's distraction as an opportunity to put whatever plan he had conjured in his head to action.   
  
Without making a peep, she shuffled backward against him and felt her chest heave with anticipation as she witnessed Nadine and Rafe bark out orders in an irritated panic.   
  
"Do you trust me?" Sam whispered quietly as he pulled a grenade from under his shirt. She'd no idea where he'd gotten it, but she knew he had to have nabbed it off one of the men.   
  
She gave a curt nod.   
  
"Okay," he breathed out taking a step back from her. "Don't leave my side."   
  
Everything happened so fast, Charlotte struggled to do as Sam had instructed. In the matter of seconds, he'd tossed the grenade somewhere she couldn't see before the wall just behind her came tumbling down with a loud bang.   
  
Through the fog of dust and rubble, she felt herself get pulled up and beelined for the opening that led back out to fresh air.   
  
"Stop them!"  
  
"Charlie, _run_!"  
  
And run she did. She ran behind Sam until her side felt like splitting-- she ran until her lungs burned like fire in her chest.   
  
Eventually, they slowed to a stop and she fell to her ass against a tree and stared at Sam as they caught their breath.   
  
He gave a slightly hysterical giggle and rubbed a hand over his jaw. "I can't believe that worked!"  
  
She stood up shakily and he immediately rushed to her and lifted her bound hands up, turning them gently to inspect the rope.  
  
The action caused her to hiss in pain at the friction moving against her raw wounds and he stopped immediately. "Sorry, sorry!" In a gentler fashion, he turned her hands and stopped again. "I don't have a knife on me... Let me just..."  
  
Charlotte watched with furrowed brows as he leaned down and began to pull at the knot with his teeth. It still hurt, but she did her best to conceal the pain seeing as how hard he was trying to be careful.   
  
When the knot finally came loose, she breathed a sigh of relief and gripped her forearms tightly. Then he stepped closer to her and she was overwhelmed with his proximity. She felt her eyes widen as his arms moved around her shoulders and the gag suddenly fell loose from her lips.   
  
The burning in her throat itched and she coughed roughly, trying to scratch it best she could. Sam was moving closer still, and his thumb brushed the corners of her mouth, springing tears to her eyes at the same raw feeling.   
  
She probably looked a hot, bloody mess. Reaching her own hand up, she grimaced and winced at the action. "Fuck. Please tell me I don't look like the joker?"   
  
Sam chuckled then, but there was a guilt in his eyes and a hesitation to speak. "Charlie..."   
  
Her heart leapt to her throat as she looked up at him. She'd never seen him so torn. It was then she could see his age catching up with him-- the weariness, the fatigue. Even the tiny crows feet at the crinkle of his eyes... But despite that, it was as if they were teenagers again, silently communicating what they felt with one another without the use of words   
  
"About Alcazar--," He began.  
  
"Don't." She shook her head as those two words jolted her back into reality. They weren't teenagers. They were a thirty-six year old, and forty-year old stuck on an island, fighting for their lives. "Just don't, Sam. We need to find Nate and Elena and--"   
  
"Just listen, please!" He begged, gripping her elbow. "I know I fucked up-- Jesus, that's all I've ever done, I _know_ — but it was the only way I could convince Nathan to come with me. This was our chance to finish our mom's work! To be _more_ than just two unwanted punks dropped off at a fucking orphanage, okay?"  
  
His words stirred something in her other than anger, and she inhaled sharply. He was being so raw with her, so transparent--   
  
She turned away from his expressive eyes and shook her head. "I get it, Sam. To an extent, I _do_. But it doesn't just make it okay, alright? I mean, did you see Nathan's face that night his wife walked out? Did you see how heartbroken she was after? No! And to know you kept pushing, pushing, _pushing_ to find this treasure-- that's what I don't get! And to have all that shit dropped on me by Rafe--!"   
  
"Those women meant nothing to me." He interrupted earnestly.  
  
"You think I give a damn about those women?" She scoffed, looking at him with a frown. "I mean, yeah, it stung hearing that, but that's not what hurt the most. Learning that you hadn't tried to find me, now _that_ hurt! I mean, you could've learned about Samantha so much sooner-- fuck! She's my life, Sam! She means more to me than any treasure in the world and I'd die a _thousand_ times over before bringing someone into her life that I don't trust... And I _want_ to trust you... But right now... I just don't."  
  
Sam stood there with a pained expression on his face after hearing her words. His hand fell from her elbow and clenched at his side. "What... What are you saying?"   
  
Tears filled her eyes and she swallowed thickly. "I can't have you in her life if you're just going to disappoint her. She… she deserves more than that. I know how easy it is for the Drake's to walk out on a whim, but things are different now. _I'm_ different..." She took a deep breath and pressed her fingers into her eyes.  
  
"You're going to keep my daughter from me?" He whispered, his voice cracking slightly as he stared at her with narrowed eyes.   
  
"Of course not!" Charlotte exhaled solemnly, "But you're going to need to prove your reliability to me. You can’t just take off at a moment’s notice!"  
  
"So, you're asking me to change?" He clenched his jaw.   
  
"I'm asking you to see things from my perspective!" She retorted, "I never knew what to expect with you, Sam. I was so stupid, waiting and waiting to hear from you. Hoping you weren't in jail or killed... I made so many excuses for you. Tried to convince myself that you didn't really mean to hurt me. But do you know how _fucked_ that is!?"   
  
"I did what I had to, to protect you!"  
  
"No! You did what you did because our love scared the hell out of you!" She yelled back angrily, fully aware she had just used the 'L' word for the first time. Sam stood there, stunned at her outburst before he scoffed.   
  
"I wasn't scared."   
  
"You were." She persisted, unafraid to hold anything back. "You _still_ are! Because loving me fully would force you to face the parts of yourself you don't want to! It would make you vulnerable and susceptible to being hurt or abandoned! But you're too... too..." Her hands came up as she tried to find the right word.   
  
"Too what?" He gritted out, looking down at her with a fire in his eyes.  
  
" _Chicken-shit_!" She burst out, "You're too chicken-shit to let yourself love me that much! Because God help me, I love you so fucking much, the thought of losing you again makes me hurt deep in my bones and in places I didn't even know could _feel_ hurt. Why else would I come back to this island? I don’t give a damn about the treasure or some dead pirate! I care about _you_!”  
  
Sam's gaze was piercing, but she wasn't backing down. Not until he knew exactly how she felt.   
  
"I love you, you asshole, and that scares the hell out of you!" She breathed out roughly, "And now you have a responsibility as a parent to work on your issues, like it or not. It's not me asking you to change, it's me begging you to be _better_ \-- for the sake of our – _your_ daughter, okay?"   
  
Her breathing was uneven as she finished her outburst, and when she looked up at Sam, a warm feeling pooled in the center of her belly at the intensity of his gaze.   
  
"Are you done?" He asked lowly, clenching his jaw again.   
  
Charlotte swallowed and licked her chapped lips. "...yes."   
  
"Good." He murmured before crashing his lips down onto hers and cupping her face with an urgency that made her dizzy with pleasure.   
  
The squeak of surprise at his sudden attack quickly transformed into a moan and she gripped the lapels of his denim shirt tightly, not caring about the sting of pain against her lips and arm.   
  
In two large strides, he pushed her against the nearest tree and ran his hands down her neck and sides, cautious of her injuries. Their tongues moved together in fervent strides and Sam nudged his knee between her thighs, pinning her back into the unforgiving bark.

After a few moments, when her arms moved down to grip his biceps, forgetful of his own injury, his sharp cry was enough for her to regain her composure and push him back. Her tongue darted out to wet her bottom lip and she lifted her hand to her chest, worried her heart with thump its way right out.

They stared at one another, at a loss for words.

His mouth parted slightly, and she was sure he was about to say something before the shouts of Shoreliner’s bounce off the trees and alert them of their closeness.

“We need to get out of here.” She whispered, straightening her shirt before walking away from the spot. “Before they spot us again.”

Sam hesitated, opening his mouth as if he were going to say something, before shutting it with a resounding snap. His hand moved up as he gestured to the land laid out before them. “After you.”


End file.
